Shades of Gray
by Queen Of Gabb 488
Summary: The knowledge of prophecies often creates their reality rather than letting events unfold naturally. The future we create is made of shades of gray. The Halliwell's and the Rowe coven are directly affected by their families knowledge of each prophecy.
1. Prologue

A/N: This is just the prologue. I really like Brendan and I've always liked writing about how things might have been different for the charmed ones had their families knowledge of the prophecy hadn't interfered with their lives from such a young age. For me this is the best of each world. The prologue is just a mash up of scenes from the first season.

Phoebe made her way up the stairs of the Victorian mansion until she got to the attic door. After trying to open the locked door, she turned to head back downstairs when she hears a creak and turns to see the attic door opening. Walking inside, Phoebe sees a glistening white light appear from nowhere and shines on an antique trunk. Phoebe opens it and finds a thick, old leather bound book and closes the trunk before sitting on it. Blowing the dust off, she opens the tome and begins to read.

"The Book of Shadows," she reads and turns the page. "Hear now the words of the witches, the secrets we hid in the night, the oldest of Gods are invoked here, the great work of magic is sought. In this night and in this hour, I'll call upon the ancient power, bring your powers to we sisters three, we want the power, give us the power."

Prue and Piper ascended the stairs to the attic, unaware of the magic at work inside the manor. Dancing blue lights opened up above the broken chandelier while shaking its crystals.

**"**What are you doing?" Prue walked briskly towards her youngest sister.

**" **Uh ... reading an incantation. It was in this Book of Shadows, I found it in that trunk," she said before Prue took it from her grasp.

** "**How did you get in here," Piper questioned Phoebe while Prue assessed the situation.

**"**The door opened," she replied slapping her hand against her leg.

**"**Wait a minute, an incantation? What kind of incantation?"

**"**It said something about there being three essentials of magic. Uh, timing, feeling and phases of the moon. If we were ever gonna do this, now - midnight on a full moon - is the most powerful time."

**"**This? Do what?"

**"**Receive our powers."

**"**What powers? Wait, our powers? You included me in this?"

**"**No, she included all of us," Prue interrupted the two. "'Bring your powers to we sisters three.' It's a book of witchcraft."

** "**Let me see that," Piper softly demanded and reached for the book.

* * *

Phoebe and Piper sat on the front steps leading up to the manor. "According to the Book Of Shadows, one of our ancestors was a witch, named Melinda Warren," Phoebe said cluing Piper in.

**"**And we have a cousin who's a drunk, an aunt who's manic, and a father who's invisible," Piper replied while standing. She began to make her way to the street.

**"**I'm serious. She practiced powers. Three powers. She could move objects with her mind, see the future and stop time. Before Melinda was burned at the stake, she vowed that each generation of Warren witches would become stronger and stronger, culminating in the arrival of three sisters," she said informing Piper of her research. "Now, these sisters would be the most powerful witches the world has ever known. They're good witches and I think we're those sisters."

**"**Look, I know what happened last night was weird and unexplainable, but we're not witches and we do not have special powers besides, Grams wasn't a witch and as far as we know, neither was mum," Piper said before kissing Phoebe's cheek. "So take that Nancy Drew."

**"**We're the protectors of the innocent. We're known as the charmed ones," she yelled after Piper as her sister drove off.

* * *

Darkness cloaks his voice. The only lighting came from generous amounts of candles strategically lit around the local parish church.** "**I wake up at night. My heart pounding, a voice whispering in my head: 'You're a fraud. You can't fool God.'"

The man he confides in, Father Austin, tries to offer solace in place of the young man's fears. "These are not new fears, Brendan. I've watched you grow, wept for you, rejoiced in you, you are not a fraud. I know your heart."

**"**You don't know my family, Father. Generations of evil; evil that's in my blood," Brendan said.

**"**The blood of the sacrament washes it clean." The priest sat with Brendan, unaware that Brendan's fears had caught up to him.

**"**Hello, Brendan." Greg said coming forward.

**"**Long time, no see," Paul added standing next to his older brother.

**"**How'd you find me?"

**"**Yeah, good to see you too. Didn't mean to interrupt your conversation. We'll wait outside for you so we can have a family reunion," Greg said.

Outside of the church Piper, Phoebe and Prue were loading the van they had used to transport the food for that night's church event.

Prue handed Piper a serving tray. "Hey, you know what? The next time Quake does a food pantry, why don't you call some guys."

**"**Yeah, I'll just go through my handy guy Rolodex."

Phoebe joined in on the sister bantering. "Which I believe now stops at 'J' for Josh, or is it 'B' for boyfriend," she asked.

**"**I don't wanna talk about it."

**"**Why not, Piper? You know you like him and he calls you all the time. Why don't you just go out with him?"

**"**I told you. Because I'm too busy with work and my instincts are telling me to lay low."

Prue could understand Piper's hesitance. "Always trust your instincts."

**"**Whose side are you on," Phoebe asked Prue and the three watched as nuns walked across the path.

**"**Now, they have got the right idea," Piper said still frustrated by her guy issues.

**"**Who, the nuns," Phoebe asked.

**"**Yep. Nice safe environment."

Phoebe smirked. "Yeah,if you like monks."

Piper continued on with her pitch. "Stress-free, no need to worry about guys, no wardrobe."

**"**No wardrobe?" Phoebe turned to look at Prue and then back to Piper. "Okay, now you're scaring me."

**"**Um, whose pen is this," Piper asked as they finished cleaning up.

**"**Oh, it's, uh, Brendan's, I think," Prue said joining in the conversation again. "You know, the cute guy who signed for the food, remember?"

**"**I remember him, yes," Phoebe said recalling the cute guy.

**"**Good, then you can take it to him," Piper said handing it to her. "I think he's in the church office."

**"**Okay, just don't go taking any vows while I'm gone, all right?" Phoebe took the pen and instantly had a premonition. "Oh, oh, cute guy, I just saw him being attacked by a warlock."

"Where," Prue asked.

Phoebe tried to recall her vision. "I think it was here somewhere."

"All right, let's split up," Prue suggested and the three frantically searched the church grounds.

Inside the church, Brendan was still confronting his older brothers.

**"**Give it up, little brother. You're praying to the wrong deity. Aren't you, Brendan? I mean after all, we can't deny who we are," Greg taunted him.

**"**You don't scare me, Greg."

**"**Sure I do," Greg said as he changed into a warlock. "We've come a long way to find you. We're not leaving until you join us."

Paul tried to reach out to his baby brother. "Please, Brendan, we don't want to hurt you."

Greg hits Brendan and he falls to the floor, clearly contradicting Paul's previous statement. "Did you really think that the church could save you?"Greg picks up Brendan up off the floor to hit him again when Prue entered the church.

**"**Hey," she shouts and uses her power to send Greg flying across the room. "Piper! Phoebe!"

**"**We'll come back for you," Greg promised and he and Paul ran off.

**"**Prue," Phoebe called out.

**"**You guys, over here!" Prue turned to Brendan. "Are you all right?"

**"**Yeah, thanks," he muttered before running off.

**"**Wait, where..." Prue called after him.

**"**Hey," Piper shouted.

**"**What happened," Phoebe asked Prue.

**"**I don't know, but uh, I'm gonna go find out."

* * *

Prue found Brendan at the stables where he taught children how to ride horses and volunteered to take care of the animals.

**"**How'd you find me?"

**"**Father Austin told me that you would be here. We need to talk."

**"**Look, uh..." he said searching his memory for her name.

**"**Prue," she offered.

**"**Prue. If you're worried about my telling anybody about your secret, you don't have to. It's safe with me."

**"**Yeah, well, that's good to know but why? I mean, most people would be pretty freaked out if they saw what you saw."

**"**I'm not like most people."

**"**Yes, I know. Most people aren't attacked by warlocks."

**"**I don't wanna talk about that," he said getting on a horse.

**"**Okay. Ah, hi, just can I borrow this for a minute," Prue asked a stable hand in her pursuit of Brendan.

**"**Sure, go ahead."

Prue rides at a gallop until she catches up to Brendan and eventually passes him.

**"**Hey, wait up. If you keep your grades up maybe you can come riding again too," he jokes.

**"**Oh, you promise?"

**"**Who are you, anyway," Brendan wondered aloud.

**"**Oh, well, that's not fair, I asked you first."

* * *

**" **Do you actually expect for me to believe that you're a good warlock?"

**"**No. There's no such thing. I can explain it to you if you let me. I can make you understand. I won't hurt you. I need your help."

**"**For what," Prue asked.

**"**To stop the other warlocks. To stop my brothers."

**"**A warlock naturally comes from two warlock parents, like Greg and Paul do. But they're just my half brothers, I had a different mother," Brendan explained to Prue.

**"**A human mother?"

**"**Yes. A wonderfully human mother."

**"**So then we have something in common. My father was human."

**"**Difference is, he came from good. Mine came from pure evil. Descended from an ancient warlock line, intent on furthering the Rowe coven. Three brothers destined to become the most powerful force for evil the world has ever known."

**"**The evil Charmed Ones," Prue said.

**"**Only, I went into hiding. I didn't wanna be a part of it. I wanted to break the chain. Make amends for all that my family's done."

**"**By becoming a priest?"

**"**Embracing God in that way is the only way to lose my power, my warlock nature forever. And with it, keep the Rowe coven from ever being. I've been at war with myself all my life, Prue. Running from the evil inside me. I guess it finally caught up."

**"**You can fight it. Fight them."

**"**No, I can't. My brothers are too powerful, they're relentless. They'll keep hurting the people I care about until I give in. They'll even hurt you."

**"**I can take care of myself. It's you that I'm worried about."

**"**Ahh, don't worry about me. I know what I have to do. I have to kill my brothers before they trick me into killing somebody else. You'll have to follow me to their place, and then and your sisters will have to kill me."

* * *

**"**You betrayed us, little brother. I'm very disappointed," Greg said.

**"**Leave them out of this, Greg."

**"**You're protecting witches now? You make me sick."

**"**Prue," Piper asked wondering if it was time to make a move."

**"**Now!"

Piper tried to freeze them but they have some sort of protective shield around them and Phoebe throws the knife at them but the shield blocks it. Prue's powers are also blocked by the shield.

**"**No, not this time. I'm ready for you but family first," Greg said getting ready to attack Brendan.

**"**Yeah? Come and get me."

Greg picked up the athame and gets ready to throw it at Brendan when Paul stops him.

**"**Greg, wait," Paul shouts. The truth is, Paul wants his brother more than he wants his powers. The Rowe coven prophecy means nothing if he can't have his family.

**"**Brendan, don't let them turn you, don't use your powers," Prue said.

**"**Give him a chance," Paul said. "It's not too late, Brendan, you can still join us. You are either with us or you are against us.

**"**Then I'm against you."

**"**Then you will die," Greg said and threw the athame at him only for Paul to intercept and step in front of Brendan. "Damn you, Brendan."

**"**Greg," Paul calls and removes the blade from his chest. "Damn you!" He throws the knife and hits Greg in the chest; both expel their last breath and turn to dust.

**"**I'm sorry," Prue says as she steps towards Brendan.

**"**I'm not."

The church's clock tower chimes signaling it's time for the ordination. "It's time," she says.

**"**Yeah, I know. After all these years, after everything I've given up to get here, a sacrifice never seemed greater than it does right now."

Prue looks up at him and kisses him.


	2. Their mother's murder

The future is never set, yet there are some things that can't be changed. It's a strange blur of black and white, as well as all of the shades of gray they make. Some shades are darker than others, almost as dark as evil. Others are so light you cannot tell their difference from white. Other possible futures are the perfect balance. Still, the future is unpredictable. No one knows what can and will change, and what can't ever be changed.

For most people the future and a person's ability to change it is never really an issue. No one knows what's coming before it hits them and everyone copes with things they can't change and have no control over. The Halliwells were not most people; especially since they were witches who wielded immense control over the outcomes of their lives and because they had a psychic in the family.

More than three hundred years ago the families' most famous ancestor, Melinda Warren, had prophesized the arrival of the charmed ones; three sisters who would be the most powerful witches the world had ever known. Like most prophecies, theirs was one that was well known in their magical circles. Like most prophecies, the telling was as deeply connected with the outcome so that it was impossible to tell which influenced which. Could it be that the knowledge of the prophecy created the circumstances that lead to Melinda's vision and the creation of the prophecy?

Had Melinda kept her vision to herself would life for the sisters have been different? Had Patty dared to brave the consequences of her illicit affair with Sam would the prophecy have ever been created or would it accommodate the addition of a fourth sister? When people have the ability to change the past and the future, the different shades of gray can blur to the point where it's impossible to tell the difference between light and dark.

The prophecy and lives of the Halliwell sisters were deeply connected with other magical beings. One such family that shared knowledge of the future was the Rowe coven. Just as the Warren line would culminate in the arrival of three sisters, the Rowe coven would culminate in the arrival of three brothers; the ultimate evil.

* * *

Brendan sat in the conservatory talking with Prue and Phoebe while Piper served tea. "Thank you," he said and brought his cup to his lips to taste. "I can't thank you all enough for what you've done for me. I just wish I might have been able to do something for Paul."

"He seemed to have really cared about you," Piper added. "He may have been a warlock but there was obviously a good part of him. You," she clarified.

"At least you know now how much you meant to him. You weren't just a means to fulfill the prophecy; you were his brother," Phoebe said.

"Yeah, I never realized that before it was too late. I know I couldn't have done anything for Greg, but Paul accepted me at a difficult time. I just wish he didn't have to die."

Prue sat across from Brendan. "What do you mean they accepted you at a difficult time?"

"I was the backup plan for the prophecy," he said looking into his tea. "We had another brother, Kaleb. He was the oldest boy. When he died during his initiation my father couldn't bear to see the end of the prophecy. Greg and Paul were still young, but their mother couldn't stand the idea of having another child after what happened to Kaleb. That's why my father impregnated a mortal woman. The prophecy just wasn't meant to be."

"I wonder what would have happened if we had another sister," Phoebe said daydreaming. "I mean, your dad did what he did intentionally to fulfill the prophecy but another sister would have meant not being charmed."

"Well, we don't have to worry about that," Piper said. "What we do have to worry about is the fact that Brendan skipped the ordination. How are we going to make sure he doesn't turn again?"

All heads looked at Prue. "I am going to create a stripping potion and try to target your warlock side. That way I don't accidentally vanquish you."

"Gee, thanks," Brendan laughed.

"C'mon let's call it a night. I'll walk you to your room," Prue said guiding Brendan up the stairs.

Phoebe and Piper sat in front of the fire and watched the two disappear. "Do you really think he's spending the night alone," Phoebe asked.

"Not a chance," Piper responded.

* * *

"You know, Father Austin would have let me stay at the church. You didn't have to bring me back here."

"I just want to make sure that you're safe until I can get you that stripping potion," Prue said.

"Are you sure that's it?" Brendan looked down into her eyes and Prue looked away.

"I should go get started on it. That way you don't have to wait around tomorrow, and you can go back to the church." She stepped around him to head for the door when he grabbed her arm and turned her.

Both held their breath while they waited for one of them to have the courage to make the next move. Stepping towards her, he leaned down and kissed her.

* * *

Weeks passed by after Brendan's powers were stripped and he and Prue were still seeing each other. Brendan continued to volunteer at the church and stables and accepted a position at a private catholic school as a youth minister and philosophy teacher.

Prue and Andy were still on friendly terms though she had to admit that she missed him. He was her first love and that was always going to be special for her. When Leo reappeared and the sisters needed help finding Daisy, Andy had tracked her down and helped them protect her. When Rodriguez targeted the sisters, Andy had sacrificed himself so that they could still protect the greater good.

Still, as time moved on, the sisters changed. Piper quit her job and opened P3, Phoebe decided to go back to school, and Prue was wrestling with her decision to keep her cushy job or actually do something for herself and try to make it as a photographer. Only Brendan knew that she was thinking about it, but she didn't want to mention it to her sisters unless it actually seemed like a realistic possibility.

Piper and Leo were struggling to make their relationship work and the arrival of neighbor Dan interfered; Prue and Brendan were trying to work on themselves without outgrowing each other, and Phoebe was still trying to make something of herself. Before they knew it, eight months had passed since Prue and Brendan had originally crossed each others paths.

Prue sat at a table, looking at the docks and the water they led to; water that was responsible for her mother's death almost twenty years ago.

In her memory the sirens blared at top volume. Prue, only about eight years old, looked down the dock and saw her mother lying motionless on the dock as police and medics handled the situation.

"_Third drowning this year," the medic said. _

_The investigator turned to look at him. "__Anyone see it happen?"_

"_Is that her little girl," another Detective asked. "Get her away from here. We don't want her to see her mom like this."_

"_Mommy," she cried not fully understanding why her mother wasn't opening her eyes. _

"_Are you Prue? Your Grams said we'd find you. Why don't you come back inside with me, okay?"Picking her up, he walked her away from the scene. _

"_Mommy! Mommy!"_

Prue is pulled from the memory as her phone goes off. Looking at the caller ID she knew it was Piper. "Hello?"

"Prue, are you still on the road?"

"Oh, yeah, traffic's insane."

"Some guy called from Bucklands. I thought you'd be back from the estate sale already. I was just calling to see if you and my car were okay."

"Yeah, we're fine," she said as a beep was heard on the line.

"Oh, that's um, that's probably Dan."

"You know, he does live like twenty feet away. You guys could get walkie talkies, two cans, a string."

"Point taken, mom."

"Um, alright, go talk to your boy, I'll see you later."

Hanging up, Prue stared at the water before starting to make her way down the dock. Coming to the edge, she sees a police officer in a canoe and the water starts bubbling next to it. Prue runs along the edge of the water as he is blown into the water and struggles to stay afloat when a strange man stops her from helping.

"No, it's too late. It's already taken him."

" Just call 911," she tells him and the man runs off.

Back at the manor, Prue walked into the kitchen to a nauseatingly cute conversation between Piper and Dan, and Phoebe's mocking.

"Prue, what are you doing home? You told Piper that you were heading into the office."

"Yeah, things changed," she said in a tone that clearly indicated that there was some situation going on.

"Uh, Dan, I have to call you back, okay."

Prue pounded one hand into the other as she tried to find a way to reveal her news. "Okay, I saw something or someone drown and it was anything but natural."

Piper was confused. "On the freeway?"

"No, up at the lake."

Phoebe had a sour look on her face. "Oh, wait a minute. The lake as in _the _lake, where mom was killed?"

"You said you were stuck in traffic," Piper said.

"Yeah, I was after the lake. I just go there sometimes to think."

"You never told us that," Phoebe accused.

"Because I didn't want to make a big deal about it. Anyway, this isn't about mom, alright. I saw someone get pulled under. I tried to help him but this man stopped me and said 'Its already taken him.'"

"Do you think he knows what happened," Piper asked.

"Could," she replied and the sisters made their way up to Prue's room. "Which means I need to get to Bucklands to drop stuff off and get back to that lake."

"Wait a minute, Prue, aren't you kind of missing the point? How can you think that whatever you saw didn't have something to do with how mom died," Phoebe cried.

"Look, we need to stop worrying about the past and start dealing with the present. They're re-opening camp."

"I thought they closed it the summer that mom…" Phoebe broke off mid sentence.

"Exactly. And no one has been allowed in the lake since and if there's something in it, killing, then the last thing we need is a lake full of kids."

"Well, how do we find the guy that stopped you?"

"What about the woman who used to run the camp," Piper said jumping in. "Mrs. Johnson. If she's still up there, she'll probably know who he is."

"She's still there, same cabin."

Phoebe turned to give Prue a look. "I guess you go up there to think a lot," she said with attitude.

"I'll meet you guys up at the lake. I should be there in an hour," Prue told them before leaving.

"Do you really think the things she saw has nothing to do with how mom died," Phoebe asked.

"Nope. You?"

"Not a chance."

* * *

Phoebe and Piper sat in Mrs. Johnson's cabin as they tried to get information about the man that Prue saw.

"Well, I'm finding it hard to believe enough times gone by for you to of grown up so much. Here," she said handing Piper the plate of cookies.

"Aww, look at little Prue. Nice pigtails Piper," Phoebe joked.

"Not fair."

"No, what's not fair is that I never got to go to camp with you guys," she said grabbing the plate from Piper.

"Um, we heard you were thinking of opening up the camp again," Piper said to Mrs. Johnson.

"Oh, was. I thought it was over and then today another drowning. I can't ask the campers to go swimming in the lake when…" Mrs. Johnson let that thought trail off.

Piper thought about her mom again. "Um, we were wondering if you might help us with something. Prue was up here the other day and she mentioned a man, um, older, a bit off."

"I think the word that she used was crazy."

Piper gave Phoebe a reproving look. "We were wondering if you might know who he is."

"Oh, Sam. Only one it could be. The man's not wired together properly. He showed up when the drownings started. He just stayed here, no friends, no life of his own. You know, with someone like that, you have to wonder what he's capable of."

Outside, Prue arrived at the camp and was making her way up to the cabin. Glancing at the lake, Piper, Phoebe and Mrs. Johnson walk up to her.

"Mrs. J., you remember my sister, Prue."

"Oh, Prue, of course I do. It's good to see you," she said hugging her old camper. "Wow! You're looking more and more like your mother every day."

Turning her head down, she deflected the compliment. **"**Um, actually it's Piper who resembles her the most," she said followed by an awkward silence.

"People see a little of her in each of us, I think," Phoebe said taking control of the conversation.

"Of course. Will you come see me again? The old broad gets lonely up here. I love to see my campers."

Piper turns her attention back to the older woman. "Sure."

They said their goodbyes and Mrs. Johnson made her way back to her cabin.

"She's not opening the camp, Prue," Piper said.

"Really, so that means it's just between us and what ever's hiding in that lake. Any word on that crazy guy?"

Phoebe filled her in. "His name is Sam and he lives right…" Phoebe was cut off by the ringing of Prue's phone.

"Hello, this is Prue."

"Hey, how's my favorite auctionette," Jack responded. He had been annoying Prue ever since they had sparred at an auction. He had only backed off when Brendan had made it known that Prue was taken.

"Fine, how's my favourite auction-ass?"

"Ooh, nice one. Hey, listen, I just wanted to let you know that since you're not here, I'm gonna take your twelve o'clock lunch with Mr. Fugimotto."

"Ah, no, no, no. Wait, Mr. Fugimotto is very particular."

"Prue, would your relax. I will take great care of your client okay. Later."

"I just cannot figure out what this guy's deal is."

Piper cocked her head to the side. "That's funny, we were just gonna ask you the same thing."

"Excuse me?"

Phoebe took her turn to confront her eldest sister. "Every time someone compares you to mum you flinch. It's a compliment, not a curse."

"Is it? Because every single day, I feel like I'm becoming more and more like her and everyday it terrifies me."

"Prue," Piper said with sympathy.

"I mean, don't you guys see it? Look at what happened to her and then look what's happening to me. No successful relationship with guys, being responsible for a family, now because of being this charmed thing, the very real possibility of dying young, it's like history is repeating itself."

"Prue, what about Brendan. You have love in your life, and the other stuff is just…" Piper trailed off.

"Coincidence? I thought that we had figured out that nothing is a coincidence in our lives. Like me being here when that thing attacked, it's like I was meant to be here."

"Well, you're not exactly meant to be here when you're here every week."

"Alright, look, I just wanna find this Sam guy, see what he knows about the demon, vanquish it and get on with our lives."

* * *

"Sam," Phoebe called out. "Be vewy, vewy quiet. We're hunting demons."

" I guess he's not home," Piper said.

Looking through old newspapers, Prue comes across a picture of their mother. "Oh my."

"What? What is it," Piper asked.

Prue stood there; flabbergasted. "What is he doing with a picture of her?"

"Who is this guy?"

"Or what," Phoebe supplied.

Rummaging through the newspapers Prue came to a realization."Okay, he has articles on every single drowning at the lake."

"New York teacher of the year, Sam Wylder. In 1872?" Piper looked between her two sisters.

"Okay, so this guy is either 127 years old or…" Phoebe said waiting for someone to make a suggestion.

"A demon," Piper replied.

"Named Sam," Prue said in disbelief. "A demon named Sam? I mean, can't it be his grandfather's certificate? After all, he did save me."

Piper ruffled through drawers trying to find something that would let them know what they were dealing with. **"**What are these? I found... Whoa! Leo, hi, what are you doing here?"

Leo orbed in, panicked. "Come on, we gotta get outta here. Sam could be back at any minute."

"Wait, you know Sam," Prue questioned him.

"Come on, we gotta…"

" We are not going anywhere until you tell us what you know. Who is Sam?"

"Sam was your mum's Whitelighter."

* * *

Leo explained the situation to the sisters before leaving in a fit of awkward tension between him and Piper.

"Why you're acting like all of this doesn't phase you, Prue. We are talking about how our mother was killed," Phoebe said and a scream pierced the air.

"Is that Mrs. Johnson," Piper asked. Piper and Phoebe run on to the dock while Prue stands near the edge.

"Your hand, give me your hand," Phoebe yelled. "Prue, what are you doing? We need you!"

"Get off the dock! It's her! It's taken her over," Sam yelled as he ran to the sisters.

"Get off the dock now! Why didn't you listen to me? I told you to stay away from the lake. It only kills in the water. Why didn't you listen to me? Nobody ever listens."

"We know who you are." Prue walked up to Sam to come face to face with him.

"You shouldn't listen to people in town, they'll just tell you I'm crazy but I'm not."

"We know you worked with our mother," Piper said coldly.

"And lost her," Phoebe added.

"I knew you'd come. I knew it. And then when I saw you…it's in your eyes, your mother."

"You have no right talking about her. You lost that right when you lost her. Why are we dealing with him," Phoebe asked.

"Because we need to know what he knows," Piper answered. "Sam, you have to tell us about the demon."

"No, no, you can't fight this thing. It's under water but it has a … it-it thinks. You never know where it's gonna be, who it's gonna be. Sometimes it takes over its victim's bodies to lure you to the water. Sometimes it doesn't. Leave now, please! Forget you ever came here. Forget you ever knew."

Prue looks at Sam in disbelief. "How can we do that? I mean, it's out there killing. We can't just walk away."

"You really wanna know what I know? I know you're not strong enough or well versed enough in your powers to take this thing on. I know that you have the same power as your mother," he said to Piper. "The power to freeze. And you know what happened when she tried to use it." He turned to Prue. "And I know you'll let your emotions get in the way, you'll lose focus and you'll lose your life. That's what I know."

Prue wore her no nonsense face. "Well, you obviously don't know us that well because we're not leaving."

"Strong, willful, just like Patty."

"I'm nothing like my mother," Prue hissed and her sisters recoiled from her words.

"But you're here. Just like she was."

"But we'll beat it. Now, you have one choice. You can either get on board or get the hell out of the way."

"The power of three. Okay, okay. If you're gonna do this then you're gonna need me to help you."

"Alright, enough of this. How do we kill it?"

"You don't," he said and turned to face them; blowing dust in their faces. "Now, you're gonna go home and you're gonna go directly to bed. Then when you wake up tomorrow you will not remember coming to the lake, or discovering the demon, or meeting me. I can't let it happen again."

* * *

Twenty-four hours later, Leo arrived at the manor to find the sisters completely unaware of the events of the day before. Piper, who woke up with poison ivy was home with Leo, while her sisters went back to the camp. Prue left Phoebe to take care of the campers who had just arrived while she returned to Sam's shed.

"I knew I should've given you a stronger dose."

"Not only did you put my sisters and me in danger but you risked innocents lives. How could you?"

"I did what I had to do to protect you and your sisters."

"Not . All these years. How could you just sit here and watch them die? People that you were meant to protect."

"Well, in case you didn't get the memo, I'm not one of the good guys anymore."

"Part of you is. Part of you always will be."

"I've done nothing but make your life difficult. What makes you so sure?"

"Because you saved me. You still have Whitelighter instincts Sam. You may have clipped your wings but this still gets you, it matters."

* * *

"I can't find anything," Leo said as Piper folded laundry.

"Well, then you don't have to stay with me. Looks of sympathy are not part of your job description."

"No."

"Um, why didn't your healing touch work? I mean, what, you can save a life but you can't cure poison ivy?"

" It's not really up to me. I can only heal when they allow me to, when I'm meant to."

"Well, why weren't you meant to help me? Why wouldn't I be meant to help my sisters?"

"There's always a reason. Maybe you're meant to be here."

Going through the pockets of the clothes she was folding, Piper found the love letters she had come across the day before. "Dear Sam? Leo."

"What is it?"

"Letters that my mom wrote to Sam. I must've forgotten about them because of the powder. "Dear Sam, Where are you? It's been two weeks since you were last here and I wonder are you alright. Do they have you off guiding someone? And I wonder when they will send you back to San Francisco. To me.""

"Is this a…"

"A love letter," Piper said not believing what she was seeing.

* * *

Leo and Piper appeared at the lake in front of Prue, Phoebe, and Sam.

"Whoa, that felt really…alright, oh, laying down now," Piper said tumbling back into a chair.

"What are you doing here," Prue asked them.

"He loved her."

"What? Who loved who? What is she talking about," Phoebe rambled.

"Sam," Leo answered. "Found the letters, Sam."

"Patty and I…"

"Fell in love," Piper finished for him.

"In the letters she told you to stay away. Not to go to the lake," Leo said.

"But I did. I wouldn't have for anyone else. But I should've followed the rules, not fallen in love. I never would've been there. I never would've distracted her and she never would've died."

Phoebe looked at Sam. "You loved her and you blame yourself."

"Don't you blame me? Every day I wake up and for just a second, just a second I think maybe it didn't happen. Yes, I blame myself."

"We have to see past our emotions to deal with this, Sam. So do you," Prue told him.

"Even so, it doesn't change the fact that I didn't see it happen. I tried to warn her and she froze me."

Leo looked at him. "Why?"

"Because she was trying to protect him." Piper looked at Leo, trying to communicate that she knew how her mother felt. That Piper knew where her mother was coming from.

"Protecting was supposed to be my job. I couldn't help her, I don't know how I can help you, I didn't see what happened."

"I know somebody who can see anything," Prue said.

"Oh, no," Phoebe said. "Wait a minute. You tiptoe around the subject of mum, you deny looking like her, you can't even go to the end of that dock because you're afraid to walk in her footsteps and now you want me to relive her last moments? How is that fair?"

"It's not. None of this is. Mom's death, Sam's guilt. But I'm asking you to help me end it."

Phoebe hesitated as she walked towards Sam and offered him her hands. As their hands touched, Phoebe was pulled into a violent premonition. Patty was on the dock, hurrying to put her plan into motion.

"_Patty, look out!_" Sam raced down to meet her.

Patty froze him and turned to see the water demon rose up in a wave of water; crushing her as it entered and drowned her. As she came out of the vision, Phoebe coughed from the water that had snuffed her mother's life.

"Did you see her," Piper asked.

"It entered her and it drowned her from the inside."

"Phoebe, in your vision, what was mom doing," Prue said hoping to have a plan ready.

"She was using something on the dock. Some... a wire?"

Leo looked at the dock. "Power cable?"

"Makes sense," Piper said. "Electricity is the only thing that separates water particles"

"So, what do we do differently," Phoebe wondered.

"Maybe nothing." Prue turned to Sam. "Sam, would mom's plan have worked if she had finished it?"

"Absolutely."

"But you said her power, my power, doesn't work against this demon," Piper piped in.

Phoebe snorted. "So that's it. We use mom's plan with one difference. The witch at the end of the dock is not gonna be the one with the power to freeze."

"It's gonna be me," Prue said.

* * *

"Forgot how good this feels," Sam said as the group prepared to put the water demon to rest.

"Really? How's it feel to be mortal?"

"Why would you want to know?" Sam turned to look at Leo before understanding set in. He clapped him on the back and went to Prue.

"Let's go face our demons," Sam said and escorted her down the dock.

"Okay, you in the water. I know that you've been waiting for this. For me. Well, here I am, so come and get me. You took what matters most to me and as long as I live, you will never kill again."

"Prue, behind you," Piper screamed. She and Phoebe ran to get to their sister.

" Piper, wait!" Leo ran after Piper, who turned and froze him in place.

" No! Not her! Take me," Sam yelled as the water demon rose up from the lake. "Stay back!"

Sam picked up the cable cords and screamed, "now!"

Prue used her telekinesis to flip the switch, sending electric shocks through Sam as water molecules exploded in bursts of steam rolling off his body. Seeing no more evaporation, Prue turned off the switch. "No, Sam."

Phoebe and Piper reach them as Leo unfroze.

" It's gone, it's gone," Sam mumbled.

Phoebe was crying. "Leo, do something."

"What," Prue shouted as Leo was unable to heal the man. "Why isn't anything happening?"

"Because it's not meant to," Piper explained.

"It's okay, it's time to go," Sam said lying in Prue's arms.

"No," Prue replied.

"I did what I've been waiting to do, I kept it from happening. History won't repeat itself."

"But you're going…" Phoebe cried.

"I'm gonna see Patty again," he said before turning to Leo. "Don't lose her. Patty? Patty?"

The girls turned to look for their mother, but she didn't appear for them to see.

"Say hi for me, for us," Prue said and Sam passed away.

* * *

Phoebe, Prue and Piper sat in the living room where Phoebe was creating a journal out of their mother's love letters.** "**At least fighting this demon came with a consolation prize. I mean, it didn't bring mom back but these brought her closer."

"It's a good idea, Pheebs. Making a journal out of mom's letters," Piper said.

"Yeah, not as good as the real thing though."

"Nothing is." Leo Um, te appeared in a swirl of bright blue lights, catching Piper's sight. "You want some tea? I'm gonna go get some."

"Sure."

As Piper left the room there was a knock at the front door. "I'll get it," Prue said and opened the door to see Brendan. She stepped into his arms and rested her head under his chin. They stood there for a minute before withdrawing from the embrace.

"Uh, Pheebs…we're going to hang out upstairs, okay?"

"Have fun," she giggled getting at the point.

"Hi, Pheebs," Brendan said in a sing songy voice.

The couple made their way to Prue's room where they embraced again behind closed doors. "Are you okay?"

"I've always been the strong one; the protector. I couldn't protect them today. I just kept hurting them."

"How? How did you hurt them?"

"I'm so afraid of turning out like my mother. Alone, the responsibility of caring for a family, as well as the possibility of dying young terrifies me. I can't bring myself to be like her."

"Hey," he said taking her chin in his hand so she was forced to look in his eyes. "You're not alone," he said and kissed her. "Your sisters –and me I might add—will also help care for this family," he added and kissed her again. "And you're not going to die young. Your sisters and I won't allow it," he finished and kissed her again. He pushed her back until she fell on the bed and the two laid there in each other's arms.

"I love you," Brendan told her.

Prue looked up at him. It was the first time either had said those words in front of the other. "I love you, too."


	3. Learning how to love

Author's note: Thanks for the reviews, guys. Keep them coming and I promise I will continue to update quickly.

One thing that makes the future so hard to predict is love. The loss of love, inspiration of love, pursuit of love and the strength of love can play a large role in the actions of people. It can come from nowhere and shift one possible future to another. The way we do or don't welcome it, exercise it, and nurture it can cause different outcomes.

For the Halliwell sisters love was as much feared as it was sought. They had lost their father and then their mother, past loves and possible loves so many times that each sister reacted differently. That night, the sisters each pursued love –some more effectively than others—in the hopes that one day they wouldn't have to suffer loss.

Their triple date had taken a turn for the worse when Phoebe's date canceled on her. The other couples were having a great time, but Phoebe was feeling the sting of rejection once again. She skipped coffee and desert for the comfort of home and was walking to the curb to hail a cab when she was grabbed.

"I need your help," a tall man with dirty blond hair said to her, writhing in pain.

"Let go of me." Phoebe tried to yank herself out of his grasp with no such luck; his hold was firm.

"Hate will destroy me and everything else if you don't help me."

"I am warning you, buddy," she managed to yell though thoroughly scared at this point.

"Phoebe, you gotta believe me. I know why you can't find love."

"Hey, you, let go of her," Dan said after noticing the event. He jogged down the street to rescue her but the man ran off.

"Are you okay," Piper asked when she and Prue caught up to her.

"Uh, yeah."

"What was that about," Prue asked.

"I'm not sure."

* * *

The next day, Phoebe woke up to an empty house and witnessed her eldest sister's walk of shame. She had spent the night at Brendan's place and had come home so that both could get some work done.

"You're gonna need a new lock on that back door," the man from the night before said interrupting the sisters' conversation.

"I'm getting rather used to you kicking love in the teeth," he said when Phoebe did a roundhouse kick to his face.

"Okay, who are you and what do you want?"

"More importantly I know who you are Phoebe. And that's why I'm here. I need your help. Charmed Ones kind of help."

"I will ask again. Who are you?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"Well, for lack of a better name, Cupid."

* * *

Piper was back at the manor after hastily leaving Dan's house. She was still trying to figure out things were going with him, and the surprise present earlier that morning had completely thrown her. Coming out of her daydream, she tuned back into the conversation that was going on around her.

"…People's hearts, to waken love. See, but Drazi's all about hate and he's gonna use the ring to get in the same way."

"You're still gonna have to back up the Cupid claim," Piper informed him.

"Okay, fine," he said turning to Piper. "Dan," he said before facing Prue. "Brendan," he spouts out and turns to Phoebe. "Clay," he turned back to Prue. "Andy. My sincerest condolences. Eric in London, Alec in college," he listed and turned back to Piper. "Not Jeremy the Warlock, Joe in college, Barry in high school, Tim in eighth grade," and faced Phoebe again. "Ken, Kyle, Steve, Mike, Ken again, Brian, Joel, Martin, Peter, Paul, Tony."

"Okay, you know I didn't love all those guys, right?"

"Yeah, well, they wanted to love you but you're closed hearted. That's what sent them away."

"My closed heart? I do not have a closed heart," Phoebe said.

"Look, if people get the feeling that there's nothing there, then eventually it's hasta la vista, Phoebe. That explains the recent rush of canceled dates."

They continued to talk for a few minutes about the cupid's role in pairing their relationships before getting back to the point.

"We don't have time right now to debate the topic of your closed heart, Phoebe. We gotta finish the potion so we can vanquish Drazi before it's too late."

"Okay, so how are we supposed to find him," Prue asked straight and to the point.

"The same way he can find me. We can sense each other. We're connected in a cosmic way. There's a fine line between love and hate."

Cupid began to explain what would happen if Drazi was able to kill love. Later he clutched his heart in pain as one of his matches was undone using his ring, much like the pain a whitelighter experienced when one of their charges were in pain.

"It's Drazi. He's killing love."

* * *

The sisters found and confronted Drazi with a vanquishing potion later that afternoon. Without his ring, Cupid couldn't return to his real, and so once again Phoebe was home making potions instead of out on a date. Unknown to the group, Drazi was protected by the ring during the vanquish and was still out trying to kill love just as Cupid had killed Drazi's love.

At P3, Prue, Piper and their dates were having a great time. Prue and Piper went to the ladies room leaving the boys alone to talk.

"You know, Piper has this strange habit of sometimes just sort of vanishing. Does Prue do that," Dan asked Brendan.

Brendan considered his answer before replying. "Yeah, every now and then she goes off on her own to handle some situation or another.

"I figured that. Does it bug you?"

"It can be a little annoying when we're looking forward to spending time with each other but I know she has a lot going on so I don't bother myself about it," Brendan said. The truth was, Brendan wished that he could help the sisters. He wanted to protect Prue but without his warlock powers there was nothing he could do. He hated sitting on the sidelines but he trusted the girls.

"It's like time just stands still for seconds and when it starts up again she's like a total different person," Dan said.

Brendan held back a knowing smile as he thought of the witch and her ability to freeze time. Dan had no idea how right he was about that. Just then he saw Phoebe and the cupid enter the club. Prue and Piper joined them again and within the minute it took Phoebe to reach them Drazi had already done his damage.

Dan's face grew angry. "You know, why don't you just admit it. You're using me to make Leo jealous, aren't you," he accused Piper.

"Oh, can you just leave him out of this?"

"I'd love to. What about you?"

Brendan faced Prue. "Rebound guy? Is that it? What makes you think I'm gonna take this crap?"

"What, you think I'm just gonna jump at your demands? I told you I needed time to think it over and you just won't stop harassing me about it. Why don't you just drop dead," she yelled.

"I can't believe you're still threatened by him," Piper yelled at Dan.

"You think I'm an idiot? You think I don't know?"

The couples continued to yell at each other. "We are dating aren't we," Dan asked sarcastically.

"No, we're not. Not anymore. And you can have that back," she said throwing the necklace back at Dan.

" I'm sure Leo can replace it with something that means more anyway."

"Probably!"

Prue and Brendan were still screaming at each other. "I'm just glad that I never said yes to your stupid proposal!"

"Yeah, well, you and me both."

* * *

Piper opened the door to a very frustrated Brendan. "This had better be good," he said entering the manor.

"Am I supposed to know what you're talking about?"

Dan snorted. "Don't buy the innocent act. She pulls it all the time."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Just cut to the chase, Piper. Why did you call," Brendan asked.

"What? I didn't."

Brendan stalked over to the stairs and started yelling up them. "Prue, I wanna talk to you!"

"Isn't this your number," he asked reading off a page. '"Come to my house, ASAP.'"

Piper looked at him in disbelief. "That's really pathetic. Paging yourself?"

"Pathetic," he he repeated her insulted at the accusation.

Brendan shouted up the stairs again. "Prue!"

Piper returned her focus to Dan. "I'm sorry, I meant moronic."

"Why are you here," Prue demanded.

"You called."

"Oh, you wish."

Phoebe managed to patch things up between the couples. She reminded them about how they had felt the first time they had seen each other and how good things were before tonight. She sent Dan and Brendan to the store to pick up snacks while she and her sisters "talked".

"Okay, think you guys. Do you remember Drazi? Well, he's still alive and if Cupid's right, he's on his way here as we speak. Whatever bad feelings you had for Dan and Brendan, Drazi did it. He's twisted your relationships with hate."

"So what do we do now," Piper asked Phoebe.

"Exactly what you're doing right now. You let Dan and Brendan into your hearts."

Drazi appeared and grabbed Cupid. "Hello, lover boy," he said and plunged his hand into cupid's chest. "I should of finished you off the first time."

"Okay, so much for loving him to death. What do we do with him now," Piper asked after freezing Drazi.

"Same thing, only different," Phoebe answered.

"Been there, blew that," Prue said.

"Yeah, the only difference is the ring won't be protecting him..." Phoebe said taking the ring off his finger, "it will be protecting him," she finished and put the ring on Cupid's finger.

The girls finished the vanquish and each sister learned something special about love that day. For Phoebe, it took putting her sisters back together with their boyfriends to open her heart to love and all it had to offer. Piper realized that when you loved somebody you had to reassure them every once and a while because sometimes they were right.

Prue learned that love cannot be held in limbo. It must be celebrated and reaffirmed. She knew Brendan had struggled with accepting that their relationship wasn't just a means to an end for her. He wanted the same things she did; a home, children, and the comfort of having someone you love by your side. Brendan just wasn't sure if it was really him that she wanted, and not Andy.

The months after Andy's death had been hard on them. He wanted to comfort her, but it hurt too much to know that she had loved another man. There were constant doubts about whether or not they were together because they loved each other or because they were both trying to get through some loss of love; her childhood love and his only family.

Still, she struggled with taking that next step. Prue knew that she could argue 'til she was blue in the face that her sisters needed her and she just couldn't leave them yet. She also knew it was a lie. Her sisters were capable and intelligent and independent. They were her clutch. As long as she had to worry about them there was no need to jeopardize her safety net. Love hurt when it left and you got left behind.

Brendan and Dan had left after they finished watching a movie, and though Brendan had kissed her good night, his kiss felt broken. That had scared Prue more than anything else ever had. Hours passed; sleep never came. Eventually Prue learned a lesson that was better learned early than too late. That was why –at four o'clock in the morning—she knocked on Brendan's apartment door. He answered with eyes still covered in sleep; naked torso and white cotton boxers.

"I want to be your wife," she spit out and held her breath.

He pulled her inside and shut the door.


	4. A Wish come true

Prudence Elizabeth Halliwell was terrified. She knew that she loved Brendan more than life itself; that was what scared her. Love had burned her before, starting with the man who was supposed to love her more than life itself; her father. Heartbreak seemed the only option, but she knew that if she let the fear take over she would lose Brendan forever.

It had been five months since Brendan had proposed and a lot had changed during that time. Prue had quit her job at Bucklands and had started working as a photographer for 415 magazine and Piper started seeing Leo again. Planning the wedding was going slowly, as demon attacks were constantly getting in the way of meetings and appointments.

Prue and Brendan had agreed to marry in the church where they had met more than a year ago. Father Austin would be officiating the ceremony and he had even opened up an evening time for them since they wanted to be married quickly and most churches had a year and a half waiting period. It was going to be an intimate, candlelit ceremony for close friends and family.

However, due to magical interruptions nothing had been accomplished in terms of decorations. The church would be the site for both the wedding and the reception, with Piper catering and serving guests in the church gardens. All that could be done was wish for some demonic downtime.

* * *

Five hooded men stood in a circle of mist and fog, enveloping the presence of the dragon warlock standing in the middle and a genie bottle.

"Council will remind you of the heavy losses emanating from this San Francisco. From what we have learned all of the witches there have been turned," the council leader said.

"I descend from a long line of Dragon Warlocks. When my father died, he left me two things. The power of flight and the passion and hatred of those who killed him – witches. And I will not rest until I put all witches to rest."

"The council is intrigued. However, all who have used force of these witches before have failed," the second council member announced.

"There is another way," the third proclaimed. Clicking his fingers, a pool of air burst forth from the bottle and the genie appeared.

"A genie? You can't be serious," the warlock screeched."

The third council member addressed the genie. **"**Tell them what you told me."

"Well, actually that was kind of a just between you and me kind of thing."

"Tell it!"

"Right. Well, personally I think that the best way to destroy witches is not to treat them like witches at all. You treat them like humans. Most of your evil doers, naughty types, think it's best to deprive humans of what they desire. No. You wanna get them, you give them exactly what they desire. You grant them their wishes, it'll lead to their undoing."

"We don't know that. He's a genie," the second said.

"If council agrees how do we proceed," the third asked.

"Just make sure that the bottle cross paths with the witches and let el Genie grande, take it from there."

"With all due respect, Genie's only work for themselves. If he grants them three wishes, he goes free. How do you know that he won't betray you," the warlock asked.

"Remember," the leader said, "getting your freedom does not make you free from us."

"As long as you are a Genie we can find you anytime, anywhere," the second member assured him.

* * *

Back at the manor Phoebe, Piper, and Leo were getting Phoebe situated. Her daily plans had included some beautification for Prue's upcoming nuptials when she had been attacked by a demon, leaving her with a twisted ankle when Prue walked in.

"Hey," she said.

"Where are you off to," Piper asked.

"Shopping for the wedding. I still need to pick up linens, flowers, stuff for the center pieces; I don't know how I'm going to get everything done."

"Okay, I have to go open the club. Are you gonna be alright, Pheebs?"

"Yes," she answered as Leo helped her up. Thanks Leo. I'm gonna take a walk and try to loosen up my ankle."

Walking her sisters to the door, they opened it to find a bottle left on the porch.

"Somebody got a secret admirer," Piper asked snidely.

"Eww, it's so dusty. Who would send us something so dusty," Phoebe whined. Rubbing it, the lid blew off and air burst out to reveal a man.

"Your wish is my command," he said to the stunned audience.

* * *

The genie granted each sister a wish, though they had been advised by Leo that genies were tricksters by natures and that wishes usually brought harm to someone. Still, he conned the unwitting sisters into a situation that left Prue seventeen years old again, and Dan aging rapidly while Phoebe was granted the power to fly stolen from the dragon warlock.

"Prue was a nightmare at that age. Why would she wish for that," Piper wondered.

"She probably didn't," Leo told her. "She probably only wished for something she could only get by being seventeen. Which explains why she has no memory of being older," he explained.

"Yeah, but how is that even possible," Phoebe asked him. "I mean, it's so..." she yelped effectively cutting herself off when she started to float in the air.

"Alright, you know what? How about you just keep your arms down until you learn how to work the controls," Leo said.

"Got it. Good idea."

"You guys have another problem. At seventeen, Prue didn't have her powers yet which makes you guys more vulnerable," Leo reminded the sisters.

A big bang sounded through the house catching everybody's attention.

"Where's my power? I want it back," the dragon screamed.

"Remember what I told you about wishes and strings attached? That genie gave you a power but he must of stolen it from him," Leo said as they made their way downstairs.

"Oh my God, who's the hottie," Prue gushed.

"Oh my God, get her out of here now. Go."

Phoebe levitated in the air and picked him up, flying to a neighborhood park before dropping him and returning to the manor where Piper was checking the book.

"Your new little sister's in the bedroom checking out the clothes," Leo said as he walked in the attic.

"Nice to see some things never change. Uh, I think I found our fire breather."

Phoebe flew by the window unbalanced and yelping for help. "Uh, guys?"

"Dragon Warlock," he read from the book and Piper looked behind her to see where the noise was coming from. "Most feared witch killer there is. He can fly, breathe fire, and has supernatural strength. You're gonna need the power of three to vanquish him."

"Which we don't have right now. If I ever find that genie again, I'm gonna wish him into oblivion. Did you hear that," Piper asked hearing a noise again.

"Hear what," Leo finished asking just as Phoebe crashed through a window.

* * *

Piper and Leo went looking for the genie to get him to reverse the wishes he had granted. The found him at the café where he had granted Prue's wish, devouring sweets.

"This guy's not a genie, he's a pig. Hi. Wanna know what I'm wishing for now," she asked.

Halfway through their conversation the genie vanished; summoned by the council. Returning home, Piper and Leo found Phoebe alone though she was supposed to b watching Prue.

"She's upstairs, reminding me what a pain she was at seventeen."

"Now you know why she was lucky to make it to eighteen."

"Why? What do you mean," Leo asked unsure of the implication.

"It was Prue's rebellious stage. She thought everything bad was good, especially the guy she thought she was in love with."

"Until he attacked her," Phoebe added to Piper's story.

"And Grams went crazy when she found out. Come to think of it, that guy disappeared not too long after that. You don't suppose Grams," she trailed off when the bell rang. "I'll get it. You go watch Prue. Can I help you," she asked the old man at the door.

* * *

Piper and Phoebe were in over their heads. Dan was aging and Prue had shimmied out the window and taken her car. They had received a frantic call from Prue who was afraid and running from the dragon warlock and they were now on their way to find her.

"Piper! Piper! Piper!" Prue ran out from her hiding place to run to her sister.

"Prue!"

"Piper!"

"No, Prue, shh. Go back! Go, go," she yelled and was grabbed from behind by the genie. "What are you doing? Let go of me."

"I'm sorry."

"Let her go! Let go of her damn it," Piper yelled.

The dragon warlock plunged a knife in between Prue's shoulder blades despite her sisters' screaming and threw her to the ground.

"Oh my God, oh my God, what do we do, what do we do," Phoebe yelled through her tears as she panicked.

"Leo can heal her. I know he can. We just need to get her home. Go get the car, Phoebe, go get the car."

The sisters returned to the manor and carried Prue in through the kitchen entrance calling for Leo.

"What happened?"

"Never mind, just heal her. Quickly, come on," Piper demanded and Leo knelled down beside Prue, holding his hands over her. "What's the matter? Why isn't it working?"

"I can't heal the dead."

* * *

"What do you mean, Prue is dead," Brendan asked the sisters; standing in the foyer. "Where is she?"

"We're gonna fix this, Brendan. We're gonna bring her back," Piper told him.

"You'd better," he said letting bitterness and anger take control. He had battled with himself for so long and now that he was free from his heritage he couldn't stand if the woman he loved was taken by the evil he had barely escaped.

Just then, Leo walked in with the genie who had caused it all.

"What the hell is he doing here," Brendan yelled knowing the details of the day's events.

"Wait, wait, just hear him out, he may have an idea," Leo told him. "He's willing to give up his freedom. Go back in the bottle and return everything to the way it was. Well, if it gets Prue back you'll have the power of three to vanquish the dragon. What have you got to lose?"

The sisters agreed and the genie returned to the bottle.

"Wait, the genie's back in the bottle, so if we can get him out, then we have three more wishes, right," Piper asked.

"All we need is one," Phoebe said.

The dragon warlock appeared and breathed fire at Leo while Phoebe found the lamp and set the genie free; wishing that Prue were alive again.

Piper and Prue walked in already chanting. "The power of three will set us free, the power of three will set us free."

The warlock started to fly away when the spell hit him and he combusted.

* * *

A little while later, they all sat together in the conservatory talking.

"Oh, I am a reformed wish-a-holic, believe me. I'm in no hurry to get any new powers," Phoebe said.

"Yeah, and I'm gonna concentrate on marrying Mr. Right instead of worrying about the past," Prue said.

"What did you wish for," Brendan asked. "Your sisters didn't know when they called me earlier."

"I wished that I could feel it all right from the beginning so that I could remember the first moment that I knew I loved you. I had kind of hit a road block with my vows and a couple of misspoken words later I was seventeen again. The first time I thought I was in love. That was a joke," she said sarcastically remembering her encounter with the boy who had attacked her.

"Well, speaking of wishes, you still got two left, you know," the genie reminded them.

"Yes, we know and we already know what one of them is if you're up to it that is. We want to make you mortal. Keep you off of the councils radar once and for all," Prue told him.

"True freedom. And not just from the bottle although mortality is the consequence," Leo told him.

"And feelings too. Even the painful ones," Phoebe said.

"That's okay. I think I'm ready, I'm feeling very sensitive these days. Let me ask you something. Why would you do that for me? I mean especially after I helped kill you."

"Yeah, well, you also helped bring me back. And besides, once you're human, we don't have to worry about you tricking us again."

"But there's one wish you have to grant first. One that I need. I want Dan to have peace of mind, to forget about all the horrible things that have happened in the last couple of days. About who we all really are. I wish that Dan could truly move on with his life without consequences," Piper said.

"Your wish is my command. But before you formally wish for my humanity there is something I would like to do for you, Prue. I know you've had a little problem with preparing for your upcoming nuptials, which are fast approaching, am I right?"

"Tonight," Prue said. "I was only planning on getting some plan linens and some flowers for the tables."

"But that's not your dream wedding," the genie said in his best game show host voice and clicked his fingers. "Everything is set and ready to go; no need to lift a finger. Just sit back and relax. It's the least I can do after what I did for you."

"Thank you, I really appreciate it," Prue said.

* * *

The girls arrived at the church to see pillars upon pillars of candles with romantic lavenders and soft pink colored flowers draping the fixtures and the pews. The only light came from the hundreds of candles, casting beautiful tones on the church. Once in the bridal room, Prue opened her dress bag to find her very modest dress replaced with an ivory silk sweetheart neckline, fitted bodice, and mermaid skirt with pearls and Swarovski crystals embroidered on as well as on the straps.

A box, left on the vanity, had a tag that read "open me". When Prue looked inside there was a jewelry box that contained beautiful drop pearl earrings, matching necklace, bracelet and hair clips. The second Piper put the clip in Prue's hair her dark tresses pulled back in a sleek classic style.

Piper and Phoebe found dress bags with their names attached which revealed deep purple, satin dresses. After checking on the food Piper found that food was already prepared and just like the food the genie was eating at the café it was rich and decadent.

The sisters were ready for the lineup and Brendan was standing at the altar with Daryl as his best man. The two had become close during the months after Andy's death, and had bonded over the sisters; especially since both often spent their time sitting on the sidelines during a vanquish.

Piper and Phoebe started walking down the aisle while Prue started to hold her breath. The bridal march started and Prue held back. "Leo," she called as the wedding party and the guests shared nervous looks. "Leo!"

Leo appeared in a fluttering of orbs. "What's wrong?"

"Will you walk me down the aisle," she asked.

"What?"

"I thought I could do it alone but I need you. You've watched out for me and my sisters and protected us when I couldn't. You've done more for us than our father ever has. I would be honored if you would give me away."

"I would love to," he said and took her arm.

When they walked through the double doors of the church everyone let out a sigh of relief. After, everyone moved to the gardens to an equally romantic atmosphere, especially with the scent from the flowers bursting to life. Finally, at the end of the night, Brendan and Prue left for their honeymoon; a two week stays touring Ireland.

* * *

Later at the manor, Phoebe, Piper and Leo were sitting in the manor still wearing their wedding attire when Leo's head raised.

"They're calling me, I've gotta go."

"Not so fast. If we're ever gonna make this work I think I deserve to know a little bit more about you, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm going with you, Leo. I'd like to meet 'them'."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," she said wrapping her arms around his neck. "Take me to your leader."

"Uh, Piper? Wh-wh-whatta," Phoebe stammered.

"Don't worry, I'll be back."

Phoebe watched as they took off in a swarm of white lights. "Why should I be worried," she asked. "I'm only here alone…" she added.


	5. The lies their mother told them

One month had passed since Prue's and Brendan's wedding as well as the sudden disappearance of Leo and Piper. Prue and Phoebe had tried everything from summoning a lost witch to calling a blood to blood spell. Still, Piper remained in the heavens unaware of how much time was passing down on Earth.

Her sisters, however, were very aware of what was happening down on earth. In an attempt to help Daryl stop a murderer who was under the protection of a guardian demon, the sisters had been thrown into the middle of a trial as key witnesses for the very sexy assistant district attorney, Cole Turner.

"We've been through this, Leo. I don't care if they are. It's not right and it's not fair," Piper's voice could be heard through the orbs before her body took physical form.

"I know that, but it's their rules," Leo said.

"Screw their rules. They're wrong."

"Piper," Prue said trying to get her attention.

"Just a second. Leo, you better do something about this because this is not acceptable."

"Piper, come on," he said before being frozen and left behind as Piper took off to the club.

* * *

Phoebe was disappointed at not being allowed to bitch Piper out, as Prue insisted that she should be the one to follow Piper to the club and talk things out. There, Piper was surprised to find the club in such bad shape.

"This is really weird. My supplies are, like, gone. There's no booze, there's no mineral water and we're even out of pretzels. Plus the books are all messed up. How did this happen in one lousy day?"

"One day? You're kidding, right? Piper, you have been gone for one month."

"What are you talking about?"

Prue filled Piper in about the goings on in the past month while Piper confided in her about her dealings with the Elders, while Phoebe had an interesting run in with the cute a.d.a at the college she attended. After getting a premonition off of him Phoebe and Cole raced to save him from an attack by the murderer that had been set free earlier that day.

* * *

"I look at you and I think how lucky I am. I mean, I can't stop looking at you. You're my dream come true. You're my raison d'être," Leo said looking into the bathroom mirror. "Every time I see you, I love you even more. You're so beautiful. You're so special. I can't imagine my life without you," he said before turning to face the person who barged in. "Piper!"

"Leo, who are you talking to?"

"Me? Uh, nobody, just myself, you know."

"Yourself? You were telling yourself how much you love you?"

"No, of course not. Uh, I mean, it's, it's not like that at all. Um, let's go downstairs and I'll explain."

"Actually, no, we don't have time. Uh, did you find out anything about the guardians?"

"Uh, no, I forgot."

"You forgot? Leo, what's the matter? Why are you acting so weird?"

"Can we go downstairs please?"

"No, why?"

"Okay, fine, um, here's good. Um, I've been thinking a lot actually about our situation."

"Leo..."

"No, no, just let me finish. Um, I think I've come up with a solution, a way for us to be together no matter what they say," Leo told her and got down on one knee. "Will you marry me?"

* * *

While Leo went to the elders the sisters hung back at the manor. The sisters grouped together in Piper's room, where she was still trying to deal with the proposal from earlier.

"Do you want to be alone," Phoebe asked.

"No. But it looks like I'm gonna be. Leo asked me to marry him."

"That's great," Prue said, excited for her little sister.

"Yeah, except that I can't do it."

Phoebe looked confused. "Oh, what do you mean you can't do it, Piper? You love him."

"Of course I do, with all my heart but why's it got to be so complicated? Why can't I just be a normal person in love with a normal guy?"

"Does Leo think that getting married is the only way around them?"

"Yeah, but he's not even sure it's gonna work."

"Yeah, but it might work. Piper, you and Leo are destined to be together. You guys have the kind of love that girls dream about," Phoebe told her. "And I understand the risks but if you don't go for it, isn't it an even bigger risk?"

They were interrupted by Leo who had new information on guardian demons that had Prue plotting how they were going to flush it out.

* * *

At the courthouse, the sisters sat as the night court session was in progress.

"Can't we just come up with a spell or something," Piper asked.

"No, a spell could backfire on us," Prue told her.

"So could this."

"No, the worst that could happen is that it just doesn't work, but we have to flush the demon out somehow."

"And since you can selectively freeze things, why not just the innocents," Phoebe elaborated.

"Oh, maybe because I've never done it before," Piper responded.

"Yeah, well, I've never levitated before," Phoebe said.

"You never what?"

"Look, Piper, just focus all of your energy on freezing the innocents, okay," Prue told her.

"How many times is the prosecution gonna keep harassing my client, you honor? I mean, as far as I'm concerned, this has turned into nothing but a witch hunt."

"If I may please court, have a minute to confer with the witnesses," Cole requested.

"It's late, Mr. Turner. Either you have a case or you don't," the judge told him.

Piper froze the room and Daryl and Cole froze. "It worked," she said.

" Overruled."

"It's the judge," Prue said.

"Your honor, I move for this case to be dismissed."

"And the P.D," Phoebe added.

"It's everybody," Piper corrected.

The sisters ran as they realized they were trap in an entire room full of demons.

Trapped in a room with angry demons on the other side, Prue put together a plan. "Oh! Alright, the best defense is a good offense. Are you ready?"

Prue used her power to throw open the door, knocking everyone behind it out of the way. Prue used her power on the public defender who was holding a gun on her while a security guard grabbed her from behind. Phoebe was using her self defense lessons on a some and Emilio headed straight for Piper, holding a knife and fighting through her freezes. She picked up a baton off of the floor and blocks his attack while Prue breaks away from the guards grip and kicks one in the stomach. Prue deflects a fireball from the judge and they continue fighting everyone until they are all unconscious.

The sisters followed the judge to his quarters but didn't make it in time before he was vanquished by another source. They gave Cole a magic free version of the story who didn't quite seem to believe that was all there was to it.

* * *

At the club, the sisters sat talking and enjoying the Barenaked Ladies when Leo and Brendan entered. While Leo talked to Piper who met him on the dance floor, Brendan made his way over to Prue and Phoebe.

"I need to talk to you," Brendan said to Prue.

"What's the matter," she asked her husband and met Phoebe's concerned look. "Whatever you have to say you can say in front of her."

"You know that I was volunteering at the church tonight, right? Well, there was another volunteer there; a young woman that I've seen a couple of times over my years at the church."

"And," Phoebe asked.

"She came to see Sister Agnes, the nun that organized the food pantry tonight. When they came out the girl was holding a baby blanket that seemed old and tattered. I got to talking with her and she told me that her name was Paige. When she was just born her parents showed up at the church and gave her to the sister. Apparently the only thing her mother asked was that she be given a name that started with the letter P."

"What are you getting at," Prue said feeling both fearful and suspicious.

"Prue, the baby blanket was the same as the one I've seen in your family albums. I think this girl might be…your sister," he told them.

* * *

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe charged up the stairs and made their way to the attic and the book of shadows. While Prue tore through the pages of the book Piper ran around gathering the candles and putting them in place. Brendan and Leo eventually caught up with the girls and waited to see the outcome. The girls had hoped to summon their mother when Gram's appeared in her place.

"Hello, my darlings. To what may I owe this little visit," she asked. Stepping out of the circle, Grams became corporeal. "Hello, Leo. Nice to see you again; you must be Brendan," she said giving him a look that clearly expressed that she was giving him a close inspection.

"Well," she said dramatically holding her hand in the air, "you may be mortal now but you managed to overcome one of the most powerful evils ever. If anyone was ever made for my Prudence I couldn't think of anyone else. I only wish that I could have been there," she rambled on unaware that her three granddaughters were looking at her through angry, squinted eyes.

"Grams, why is there a girl out there with our baby blanket," Phoebe asked.

"Uh, I really don't know," Grams said with a face that clearly indicated she was lying. "Maybe I gave it away when I cleaned the attic. I used to donate your things to the thrift store," she told them.

"Then how come she got it from a nun at Brendan's church," Prue asked heatedly. "C'mon grams, I'd really like to know your answer to that one."

"Prue," Grams said in a voice that meant she didn't have the energy to fight with her headstrong eldest granddaughter. "I can't tell you anything."

"Then get someone down here that can," Piper said standing forward. "Like mom."

"Piper…"

"GRAMS," all three responded completely in sync.

"I'm sworn to secrecy," Penny told them.

"By who," Prue asked.

"By me," Patty was heard before she appeared. "By me."

* * *

"Prue," Piper and Phoebe yelled after her as they chased her down the stairs. Their eldest sister was already putting her coat on and getting her purse and keys.

"Where are you going," Phoebe asked.

"I'm going to Daryl. If anyone can track Paige down then it's him. Tell Brendan I'll be home soon."


	6. The fourth sister

"Can't you sense her," Piper yelled at Leo.

"No! I've already told you; I haven't been assigned to this girl –because the elders don't know about her—and that means no bond. No bond, no sensing. Besides, Grams probably bound her powers at birth."

"We just have to pray that Darryl can work his own magic," Phoebe said.

"Or…" Brendan said looking back and forth between the sisters. "Or you could try the summoning spell for a lost witch," he suggested.

"That won't work," Piper told him. "Leo just said she probably doesn't even have powers."

"But you could substitute the word witch with the word sister," he told her.

Piper and Phoebe looked at each other from their seats at the dinner table before pushing them back and running up the stairs.

* * *

"What do you need," Darryl asked when Prue told him she needed a favor.

"I'm hoping you can find someone for me. It's a young woman, early twenties; name's Paige Matthews."

"I'll see what I can do. Do you want to wait here?"

"Yeah," Prue said. "I don't think I can be at home right now."

He nodded his head and took her by the arm before leading her to a bunch. "Wanna tell me about it?"

* * *

"It's not working," Phoebe grunted. "Nothing is working!"

"Maybe it's not supposed to," Leo said. "Maybe it's supposed to happen in its own time. Just like Brendan was responsible for finding her without magic, maybe you're supposed to meet her without magic's help."

"I still can't believe that mom kept this from us. She could have found a time to tell us. Hey, Leo, how does a whitelighter even get someone pregnant anyway?"

"We're endowed with powers but they're not inherently ours like a witch's power. We don't age because we've already died but everything else still works the way it did when we were alive. That's why I eat," he explained.

"Still," Brendan said. "There's a reason for everything; for why this girl exists and why you were meant to find her now."

"And what do you think that reason is," Phoebe asked.

"Well, maybe its destiny's way of paving the way for Leo and Piper so that we don't have to keep using code words like rutabaga. This girl is half whitelighter; a very good example of what to expect should their union be allowed."

Leo nodded his head. "How can they forbid us if one of the greatest forces of good –a charmed sister—is already in existence and doing the good that they claim to stand for," he asked. "Paige would have every right to deny her heritage if they forbid further unions."

"Great," Piper said. "She's been my sister for an hour and I'm already using her to further my own agenda."

"What else are sisters for," Phoebe asked and they all laughed.

* * *

"And you're sure this is her?"

"She popped up in the system. Her job requires finger printing and once you're in the system you stay there. Plus I pulled her DMV photo and she looks just like you," Darryl told her. "Are you going to tell your sisters or are you gonna go find her straight from here?"

"I'm gonna go find her. It's wrong…what my mother and grams did was wrong. Not only for Paige but for all of us. I have to bring her home."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"That would be great."

* * *

"What do you think is taking Prue so long," Phoebe asked. They were all downstairs eating and drinking coffee around the island. It was almost three o'clock in the morning and Prue had been gone for more than an hour.

"If I know your sister she literally went to go find Paige. If Darryl found her then Prue probably will too," Brendan said.

"I wonder what she's like," Piper said. "If she's like any of us, or completely different. Who knows how she was raised? Who knows if she even wants to know us," she said.

"You don't think she will," Phoebe asked. She was already excited about the prospect of a younger sister and she didn't know if she would react well to rejection.

"I'm just saying she may not want to. She could already have siblings, or she might have grown up alone. I wouldn't blame her if she wanted nothing to do with us. We aren't exactly normal," she reminded the other three people in the room.

"Neither is she," Leo rebutted. "Besides, the power of the charmed ones comes from the bond you share as sisters. I don't think destiny would see the addition of a sister that didn't share that bond."

"Well, let's just hope that Prue can kick start that bond," Brendan said. "Sometimes destiny doesn't get its way," he said, reminding them of his relationship with his brothers.

* * *

Prue knocked on the apartment door after Daryl flashed his badge at the doorman in order to get them inside. It was 3:20 in the morning so Prue was surprised that Paige wasn't home. Then again it wasn't exactly polite to be dragging the girl out of bed at this hour.

"She's not here, Prue."

"I know. I guess I'll come back in the morning," she said giving the door another glance. She banged on it again.

"Can I help you," someone asked standing directly behind them in the hallway. She was wearing a low cut dress and had her keys in her hands.

"Paige," Prue said.

"Yeah, and who are you?"

Prue held out her hand. "I'm Prue Halliwell."

Paige looked her in the eyes before taking her hand. "Why…"

"I'm your sister," Prue said.

* * *

"I can't believe it," Paige said. "I mean, I kind of thought so when I started to ask around, but there was never a birth certificate or anything that would have led me to you."

"Wait, so you knew there was a possibility that you were our sister," Prue asked. They were inside Paige's studio apartment, sitting on her couch.

"My parents died when I was still in high school, and after that I just wanted to find out about my birth family. I asked around, found out about you and your sisters; I even started going to P3—a lot."

"Why didn't you ever come and see us?"

"And say what? 'Hi, I think your mom abandoned me at birth. What's for dinner?' I didn't know if I'd be welcomed."

"You are welcomed," Prue told her. "And there are things that you need to know. About us; yourself. The sooner you know the better."

"Like what?"

"It's kind of hard to explain here. Would you be able to meet us at the manor tomorrow for brunch?"

* * *

Prue walked through the double doors at 5:23 a.m. Putting her keys down on the foyer table, she headed back to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee to find Piper and Phoebe sitting at the table.

"Finally, what took so long," Phoebe asked.

"Was Daryl able to find her?" Piper got up and started taking eggs and bacon out of the fridge.

"Um, yeah. I just came from her apartment. I invited her for brunch, so she should be meeting us here around eleven. I hope that's okay," she asked Piper.

"So she wants to meet us," Phoebe said. "Thank god, Piper had me worried that she would want nothing to do with us."

Prue gave Piper a look. "What? I just said it was a possibility."

"So, what was she like?"

"Well, she was definitely a Halliwell," Prue told them.

* * *

"So…what you're telling me is that our mother was a witch," Paige said and saw her sisters nod their heads. "And my father –not the same as yours—was her guardian angel? Are you people nuts?"

"I know it's a lot to take in, but we can prove it to you," Piper told her.

"Oh yeah, how?"

"Magic," Phoebe said scooching closer to her.

The sisters made their way up the stairs to the attic. Once there, Prue, Piper and Phoebe read from the book of shadows, summoning their mother.

"Paige," she said and crossed the barrier of circles that kept her trapped in her spirit form. Corporeal again, Patty embraced Paige. "Welcome home."

* * *

"Uh, I didn't realize magic would be so much work," Paige said two weeks later. She and her sisters had come up with a schedule for her in order to learn the craft quickly. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays she took self defense courses with Prue and Phoebe; Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays were for potion lessons with Piper, and Sundays and Wednesdays were for spell writing as well as training with Leo.

Spell writing would be over soon, as there were only so many ways to frame spells. Training with Leo was getting better as Paige gained control over orbing, but self defense kept getting harder and harder. Luckily no demons attacked during that time, giving Paige sometime to play catch up.

"Yeah, well you'll see the reward the first time you save an innocent," Prue said. "And once you know what you're doing you won't need to study anymore. Believe me; you don't want to be like us when we started fighting evil. We were completely helpless."

"Yeah, well right now I have to think about saving my job Paige said. "I'm going to bed. If I'm late again Mr. Cowen is going to kill me. Goodnight."

Paige had moved in three days earlier when she had decided it didn't make sense to pay rent on an apartment she was spending no time in. It made it easier on Prue and Piper to pay the bills to have a third person to share the cost with, and in return they had added Paige's name to the deed.

However, Phoebe was a little on edge. Here she was –not the youngest anymore—and she was still the "screw up". The past couple of days had seen her scouring the newspaper for job adds –in between her dates with the cute a.d.a Cole Turner—and she still couldn't come up with anything that would be able to fit her crazy schedule at work and home.

Prue was a little wary of Cole, and Piper had bigger things to worry about like her upcoming wedding. In the face of another sister the elders were still taking time to review the facts but had allowed the couple to become engaged. The sisters had no idea what they were really in for.


	7. How to save a life

A/N: please read and review and thank you to all of my readers who have reviewed in the past. I was able to go back to using the actual show as a basis for this chapter. I obviously couldn't with having to write in the discovery of Paige the last time, but I like how inserting her into this episode changed things. Look for the twist at the end...MUAH HA HA HA...that means you have to read this!

* * *

Phoebe stood in the foyer checking her makeup in a compact mirror when Prue walked in holding a bowl of candy placing it on the foyer table. It was Halloween and each of the sisters were dressed as different types of witches. Phoebe was Elvira, the mistress of the dark, wearing a black dress and a black wig while Prue is wearing a black dress and a long black wig with butterflies pinned to it. Piper had dressed as Glenda, the good witch from the Wizard of Oz in a big, pink dress and Leo was recycling his World War II uniform. Paige was at work, helping the office manage their annual safe Halloween party for the community and would be home shortly.

"Alright, people, let's go. I was supposed to be at the club a half an hour ago," Piper barked out.

"Hey, are you a good witch or a bad witch," Prue asked.

"I'm going to be a very good witch from now on."

"And you picked a role model who wears lots and lots of pink?"

"Yes,"

"Glinda helped innocents, didn't she," Leo asked, stepping in to defend his fiancé.

The sisters bantered over their celebration of their new favorite holiday as they waited for Daryl, who was on the phone in the kitchen. Phoebe attacked the stereotypes that went into celebrating the holiday while they waited.

"Hook-nosed hags riding broomsticks. That's what we're celebrating. Personally I am offended by the representation of witches in popular culture," she said.

"Right, which is why you're dressed as the mistress of the dark," Piper responded.

"This costume happens to be a protest statement."

"I am so impressed that you can make a protest statement and show cleavage all at the same time," Prue proclaimed.

Together, the sisters entered the kitchen to find Daryl. "Alright, Inspector, put down the phone and nobody gets hurt," Piper told him.

"Yeah, sweetie, I gotta go," he told the person on the other line. "Give your folks my love, okay? I miss you guys."

As Daryl hung up the phone Paige walked in the back door in renaissance garb. "Alright, people. I not only managed to get out of clean up for the party but actually made it home on time. Let's get this show on the road, and we can just stick together since we are both dateless," she told Daryl.

"He's not dateless, he's married, you're dateless 'cause you're picky," Piper told her youngest sister.

"No, I'm not settling, alright, the perfect guy is out there, a real man, and I will find him, trust me," Paige said adamantly.

"Mmm hmm. And they're gonna love the popcorn and caramel in your teeth too," she said and Paige picked it out of her teeth. "Alright, Darryl, let's go, somebody get something."

Everyone began grabbing plates and bowls of food to head out to the club. **"**Um, we can't leave yet we have to wait for Cole," Phoebe asked.

"Cole Turner? The ADA? You're dating him," Daryl asked.

"Uh, no, I just sort of invited him to go along with us. It wasn't set in stone or anything but something must've come up."

"Ooh-ooh, I wanna picture of all of us first but I have to get my broomstick," Prue told everyone.

"Cliché," Phoebe called after her.

" Come on, guys, hurry up," Piper shouted. The doorbell rang and Phoebe passed her to answer it, only to open the door and find the grimlocks on their porch.

"Trick or treat?"

"Oh my god, that is so weird. They look just like the grim- whoa!" Phoebe and Piper tried to run when the grimlocks used their magic to cut off their air supply. Paige, Leo and Daryl were in the kitchen when Leo looked up to the ceiling to receive a message from the elders.

"Uh-oh," he said before putting his body into motion.

Daryl looked at him, confused. "Uh-oh, what?"

"Piper? Prue? Phoebe?" Leo, Paige, and Daryl run through the dining room to find the girls in the foyer being attacked by the grimlocks, and Prue running in.

"Oh," she screamed and used her telekinesis to throw them into the living room.

"Didn't we vanquish them already," Phoebe said while regaining the ability to breath.

"I don't know, but that's not what I wanted to warn you about," Leo said.

"What do you mean," Prue asked him when a vortex opened up behind them.

"That's what I wanted to warn you about."

The grimlocks attacked again, leaving Piper to freeze them before she and her three sisters were swallowed by the swirling mass of blue air.

"Wait! They don't know what's happening," Leo screamed after the girls.

"This isn't good, right?" Leo turned to look at Daryl and just gave him a look.

* * *

Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Paige appeared in the late 17th century; 1670, around a witch's altar.

"Is everybody okay," Prue asked her sisters.

"Too soon to tell," Phoebe said.

"Did the grimlocks do this," Piper asked.

"Uh, unless we're dead and this is the hereafter, I don't think so," Prue said.

"Um, the grimlocks as in the demons that steal sight from little kids? The ones that caused Andy to really find out about you being witches," Paige asked. Part of her time with her sisters had been spent catching up on past vanquishes and stories of sisterly bonding over the past two years.

"Eternally Elvira, yecch," Phoebe said pulling at her dress.

"Alright, uh, so this sorta looks like an altar," Prue said.

Piper turned to address her oldest sister. "A witch's altar. What's going on?"

Just then a group of ten to fifteen men came riding up on horses.

"There they are!"

"Kill the witches!"

"Oh, you had to ask," Phoebe yelled at Piper.

"Not good, not good, not good," Piper kept mumbling as the sisters ran into bushes to hide. "Flee! We're not in Kansas anymore." The four girls hid, watching the hunters search for them. "Don't tell me we've time traveled again. I hate time traveling," Piper barked out harshly.

"You do? I was burnt at the stake last time, remember," Phoebe said.

"I really don't wanna be put on a spit like a pig," Paige said. "I prefer my skin to not blister and boil from intense heat."

"Alright, let's try and make sure that doesn't happen again. From what they're wearing it looks to be, what, 16-1700's," Prue said taking control of the situation.

"Where the life expectancy of the average witch is, what, fifteen minutes," Phoebe replied before they heard rustling in the bushes. A hunter stood behind them and held a finger to his lips, signaling the sisters to stay quiet.

"Find anything, Micah?"

The hunter stared at Paige, and Prue grabbed Piper's wrist before she could freeze him.

"No, nothing here. Ride on."

"Ride on, men."

"Hi. Why didn't you let me freeze him," Piper asked Prue.

"I don't know, there was just something about the way he looked at our littlest sister. I think we can trust him."

Making sure that the hunters ad gone far enough as to not to get caught, the girls came out from the bushes. "You know what? I don't care why we're here or how we got here, I just wanna get home. I've got a life to live and decorations to hang, so where's the damn vortex," Piper yelled.

"I don't know where the…" Prue said as someone put bags over their heads.

* * *

Later, when the bags were taken off of them, the girls found themselves in a cave surrounded by other women.

"Blessed be," Eva said and bowed before them. "Our prayers have been answered. We need your help."

"Excuse me," Prue said.

"Forgive me for the manner in which you were brought here, but we had to make sure you were who we had sent for. This doorway would've told us if you were evil," she explained pointing to an opening in the wall of the cave.

"Huh, where can we get one of those," Piper asked.

"Alright, wait, uh, who do you think we are," Prue asked Eva.

"The most powerful good witches of all time, of course."

Phoebe looked back and forth between her sisters and then back to Eva. "Okay, lucky guess."

"And you are?"

"I am Eva. A midwife, a witch, and a free citizen of the colony of Virginia. These good women are my covenCome. Now we don't have much time. No one can suspect that you've come to us from the future. Witches must not have to hide in your time. What year are you from," she said as women handed the sisters clothes.

"Uh, 2000," Piper answered.

"What year is it now," Phoebe asked.

"1670."

"Uh, alright, so why do you need our help," Prue questioned the woman

"To save a magical baby who's prophesied to be born tonight."

"Save it from who," Piper wondered.

"A dark practitioner. She kidnapped the baby's mother in hopes of raising the child evil. If that happens, good magic will never flourish in the new world. You must rescue Charlotte so that you can bring her here and we can deliver her baby with our own protective circle," Eva explained.

"Wait a minute, you have the power to bring us through time but you don't have the power to set her free yourself," Piper said getting testy.

"Well, we cast spells to prepare your way of course, but we know it was the power of All Hallows Eve that brought you here. Not us."

"All Hallows Eve," Paige asked.

"A witch's most sacred day. The day when the source of all magic can be tapped into. How can you not know about All Hallows Eve?"

"It isn't what it used to be," Phoebe told her.

"Wait a minute, uh, you can tap into that power to send us home, right," Piper asked Eva.

"W-we assumed you could."

"They assumed that we could," Piper said to her sisters sarcastically.

"Um, okay, well, uh, Piper, I have an idea. So what time is it?"

"It's 2:15," she said as Eva marveled at her watch.

"Oh, you've made a big clock so small. You must possess great magic."

"Just a good credit card."

"Okay, um, excuse us for a minute. Talk," Prue commanded and turned towards her sisters. "Alright, I think that I have this figured out. I think that 'they' sent us here and that's what Leo was trying to tell us."

"Oh, leave it to them to zap first and give instructions never," Piper said in anger.

"They really kind of suck, don't they," Paige said.

" Alright, but if I'm right, the only way that they are going to let us go home is if we bring that baby back here by midnight. Alright, uh, Eva, do you have a plan?"

"Yes," she said holding a small bottle. "This vial holds a potion which will put the men who guard the house to sleep. Then you'll use your powers to bring the mother back here."

"Ha, easy for her to say," Piper said snidely and handed the potion to Prue.

* * *

Later, dressed in their 17th century garb, the sisters stood on the edge of Ruth's land waiting to put the plan in motion.

"We must be careful," Eva reminded them.

"It looks like they're having a party," Phoebe said.

"It's the kidnapper, Ruth Cobb. She's doing it, pretending to mock All Hallow's Eve but I know better. She's really doing it to tap into the powers of dark magic."

"Looks like our welcoming committee," Piper said noticing the group of witch hunters they had narrowly escaped earlier.

"Witch hunters."

"Hunters of good witches maybe. If they work for Ruth, they're after us."

"Not all of them," Paige said looking at Micah.

Walking closer to the party, Eva warned them about Ruth's magic. "Beware the talismans," she told them and pointed to where they hung on trees. "They've barred our way each time we try to rescue Charlotte."

"Oh, honey, those don't really pack much of a punch where we come from," Phoebe laughed.

"I don't know, Pheebs…" Paige said following her sisters and just a little weary due to Eva's warnings. She refused to get as close as her sisters.

"No, you don't realize…" Eva was cut off as the talismans began to glow and forced the sisters away from the property, sending them flying through the air to land hard on their backs.

"Ooh, what the hell was that," Phoebe demanded.

"Talismans," Paige said being the only sister to avoid being knocked back by the force.

"No way talisman's have that much power," Prue told her.

"They never have before. Ruth's using the magic of All Hallow's Eve," Eva said before yelling, "Guards!"

"Alright, I've got him. I've got him," Prue said and waved her hand at them. "Uh…"

"What just happened? What's the matter," Phoebe cried.

"I don't know," she said as she tried again. "Piper," Prue yelled frantically. Her younger sister tried to freeze the witch hunters without any luck.

"Use your powers," Eva instructed.

"We don't have any," Paige told her.

"What?"

"Run," Phoebe shouted when a guard came up and shot Eva in the arm. She yelled out in pain and the women ran into the bushes.

* * *

Ruth looked out the window, watching. She walked over to Charlotte who's in bed and in pain from her labor. "It appears that your witch friend has brought others to try and rescue you again. Unfortunately, she's been wounded," Ruth said receiving a grunt of pain. "Oh, easy now, Charlotte. We wouldn't want anything bad to happen to your baby now, would we?"

"I won't let you have my baby."

"Oh, you won't have a choice. Especially since somebody very special has recently arrived to ensure it," she told the girl before leaving the room to meet with the aforementioned special somebody.

"How much longer, Ruth," he asked.

"Soon. By nightfall perhaps. You imbued the talismans with great power. Care to share your secrets? Who are you? Where'd you come from? Pray tell."

Walking out from the shadows, Cole appeared dressed for the time he occupied. "I come from the future... to change it."

* * *

Back in the cave the women were tending to Eva's wounds, though she was still upset at their failure and obvious lack of powers.

"Protecting this baby is my destiny. How can we come this far just to fail?"

"We're asking ourselves the same thing," Phoebe told her.

"Bite down," one of the women directed Eva, who put the paper between her teeth and bore down. Ready for the pain of the cauterization with fiery, hot metallic, Eva was surprised when Piper halted the procedure.

"Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?"

"Cauterizing her wound."

"No, no, no, no, no. We may not have powers but we do have basics. Just get some hot water and some soap and some clean cloths. Hurry," she demanded and the women went about gathering the supplies.

"Eva, don't give up on us yet, alright, I know that we can help," Prue said.

"Yeah. We have been through tougher jams than this before," Phoebe said backing her big sister.

" We have," asked Paige.

"We were born witches. That makes us innately magical. Maybe you can just teach us how to tap into it," Prue reasoned with Eva.

" There's not enough time."

" We're quick studies," Phoebe responded.

* * *

While the sisters reconnected with their heritage and the knowledge lost along the way, Ruth and Cole were preparing for their arrival which Ruth had foreseen with the use of tarot cards. When they were able to cross the talismans the sisters mingled with the witch hunters until they were discovered. Hanging from the trees, their air was running out even as the witch hunters made their way across the field. Micah had been the one to hang the sisters before leading the group away in victory.

Paige was struggling for air just like her sisters when all of a sudden orbs appeared and she landed on the ground with a thud.

"My apologies," Micah said after circling back and cutting the nooses for the other three sisters. "A trick I learned from the French. Run the noose line to the waist".

"Yeah, well, it's a really good thing the other guards didn't see you do that," Phoebe told him and they all stood up.

"Wait a minute, I don't understand. How did you know you could trust him," Piper asked Paige.

"By the look in his eyes."

"How do you still have your powers," Phoebe asked her.

"I don't know. I tried moving something earlier and couldn't. Maybe it's that my whitelighter half is never dormant…I really don't know."

"So that would be the second time that you've saved our necks," Prue said.

"And what beautiful necks they are." He took Paige's hand and kissed it. "I'm Micah."

"I'm charmed," she replied. After a few minutes Micah rode off to rejoin the group and the sisters were left to put a new plan in action. Arriving at the house, they saw Micah's arrest by the other witch hunters. Paige was devastated, but the sisters went on their way in order to save Charlotte.

"Who are you?"

"Eva sent us. Charlotte, we're here to take you back," Paige explained.

"You're lying. I-I don't believe..."

In pain from her labor, Charlotte screamed out until Piper made her way to her bedside and applied pressure to the woman's back with two fingers.

"How are you making the pain go away?"

"Uh, uh, good magic. Just keep breathing."

"Good magic," Paige asked.

"Acupressure," Piper grunted.

"Oh, good idea. Alright, uh, we need to get you out of here. Come on, honey, it's okay," Prue said helping Charlotte sit up just as her water broke. "Oh, oh, her water just broke."

The sisters made their way to the altar, aware that Ruth and the hunters would be following closely and that Charlotte's baby would arrive any moment. They worked together to create a protective circle for Charlotte to give birth in, using the magic that Eva had taught them.

"Who's gonna deliver the baby?"

"Personally, I think you should considering we know that you're gonna have one in the future," Phoebe told Piper.

"I second that," Prue said.

"Third," Paige proclaimed.

"Wait a minute."

"Go. Bye." Prue pushed Piper towards Charlotte.

"I always get the messy jobs."

Prue, Phoebe, and Paige finished the circle just in time for the group to arrive at the altar.

"It's a girl!"

"Piper, get Charlotte and the baby outta here," Prue yelled.

"Okay, I think I have an idea of what might really scare them," Paige said putting on a conical hat and grabbing the broom. "Sorry, Pheebs."

"What are you gonna do," Phoebe asked.

"I'm going to embrace the cliché," she said before flying off on the broom.

"There's something you don't see every day," Piper mumbled.

"You've gotta give them credit. They're awfully good," Cole said and got off his horse. "It's alright. Time's on my side," he said before jumping through a swirling black mass in the ground.

* * *

Back in the cave, the girls were saying their goodbyes with the rest of the coven and Eva.

"Blessed be," Eva told them.

"Isn't the future beautiful," Prue asked.

"It is, thanks to you. You found the power."

"You showed us where to look," Paige replied.

"Yeah, I guess we know where all that flying hag stuff started. Go ahead, Pheebs. Yell at her," Piper said.

"Well, it's kind of cool now. If I could just figure out how to take all this knowledge back with me it would be amazing. Hey, what are 'they' waiting for? Why haven't they sent us home yet?"

" Maybe we haven't learned everything that we're supposed to yet," Prue said.

" Well, it's almost midnight, so if we're gonna learn anything more we'd better hurry," Piper said.

"I promise my daughter will know of you. Of the four powerful witches who came to bring her into this world. And we'll always be grateful, won't we Melinda?"

"Melinda," Piper said.

"Yes, Melinda. Melinda Warren."

"Oh," Phoebe said.

"What is it?"

"I uh... I think we're related," Paige answered for her before the girls were sucked back in a vortex and landed back in 2000.

Each of the girls looked at each other, remembering their trip to the past and not much else.

"Good, you're home," Patty said walking out of the kitchen to see her daughters standing in the middle of the foyer. "How did your vanquish go?"


	8. Another life to live

A/N: So...going back to the past changed things...like the prophecy of the charmed ones. This lead to the sisters being raised together twisting my story into a new plot...muah ha ha ha ha...I know I'm evil. This is just my way of showing all of the possible futures that might have happened. I hope you like it...plus, it was my way of giving almost everyone a happy ending, even though I promise this is not the end.

* * *

Prue entered the kitchen to find her mother, step-father, and sister Piper eating breakfast. Heading toward the coffee, she reached into a cupboard to get a mug and began to pour her morning fuel into the chosen vessel. "Is this diesel," she asked.

"Always is," Piper told her.

Prue fixed a plate of Piper's cooking and joined her family at the table when Paige entered, obviously still struggling to wake up. "Uh, coffee," the youngest demanded in a voice reminiscent of Frankenstein.

"I already made it, Missy Paige. You better hurry or you're gonna be late for class."

"Thank god I don't have to wait for Pheebs or I would really be late," the twenty year old said shoving a croissant into her mouth. She downed her coffee and orbed upstairs in order to change. The two girls hadn't been getting a long for the past couple of months.

"I can't thank you girls enough for agreeing to move back into the manor," Patty said. "I've been having a tough time keeping Phoebe in line with school and work. I just appreciate you coming home," she said reaching over to cover their hands.

"Do you think it's about Cole," Piper asked. "I know it was tough on her to have to vanquish him; she couldn't have gotten over that easily."

"We don't know," Sam said. "But you girls have been hurt by his presence and we think it might be best for you to all reconnect, especially since Paige and Phoebe aren't talking and they were always attached at the hip before."

"It's just a little crowded, is all," Prue said. "I forgot what it was like growing up sharing rooms and bathroom space."

"Well, we have a suggestion for that," Sam said. "Your mother mentioned that you kept your apartment but we thought that perhaps it was time for you and your sisters to claim the manor. You are the charmed ones, and me and your mom could take over your lease. At least give you a little more room."

Patty smiled at Sam and turned back to her two eldest daughters. "Prue, you could have our bedroom which means you'll have your own bathroom again. Besides, having the power of four together under the same roof would make vanquishes easier and you wouldn't have to stop by to shop from my herbs anymore."

"I guess we always knew we'd end up back at the manor someday," Prue said.

"Might as well be now," Piper added.

* * *

Sam made his way to the elders who had been calling him all morning. When he got there, he was met by an old friend whom he had known for almost sixty years. "Leo Wyatt," he called out before going in for a hug. "What's going on?"

"Well, you know how the elders agreed to let you take over training the girls since you were already a part of their lives every day, and now that the girls are on their own and already have some major battles under their belt the elders would like to assign me to them like they had already planned."

"Well you couldn't have come at a better time," Sam said. "The girls are having some issues right now, and me and Patty have decided to move out of the manor and leave it to them." Sam gave him a pat on the back. "Good luck."

"Would it be possible for me to come down later and introduce myself with you and Patty?"

"Sure, I'll even make sure Piper cooks tonight."

* * *

Life for the Halliwells had never been easy. Narrowly escaping death, last ditch efforts to find a way to save their innocents, and occasional sisterly spats occurred often and took their toll on the family. Life had always been complicated for the little witchlings but their Grams and Mom had bought them valuable time to have a childhood by vanquishing as many demons as possible.

Growing up with powers had proven challenging for the parents who had to look forward to total destruction in the face of Prue's wrath, minor explosions from Piper when she finally released some of her pent up anger, Phoebe's future knowledge of all of her sisters' would be secrets, and Paige using her orbing to sneak out.

Still, having their powers for so long had paid off for the sisters. Not only was Prue's telekinesis strong, but it had advanced so much that a flick of her hand could not only send objects thousands of miles away but could create blasts very similar to Piper's. Her astral projection had also increased, and now she could make multiple projections at the same time as well as use her powers in that form. She had also gained the powers of projection, as well as conjuring.

Piper's freezing had grown so much that she could freeze the entire state of California at the same time, and she could now use her exploding power to bring down an airplane. Her hold over time and molecules had also led to a distinct power of seeing through alternate timelines, as well as fast forward and rewind through time. She was the only witch with the power to time travel, as it was such a huge responsibility.

Phoebe's premonitions had taken on a new life of their own and Phoebe had come very close to Seer status. Just touching a person or object could give Phoebe the entire history of its life without the ringing in her ears. Besides this, she had developed empathy –which often annoyed her sisters—as well as the ability to levitate, create an electric spark from her hands, and persuasion –which didn't work on her sisters, unfortunately.

Paige had spent long periods of time with her father learning the tools of their trade. Orbing, levitating, sensing, and creating matter had come first, while learning the language of whitelighters and healing had taken several months more to finally learn. Glamouring had been fun and had also gotten Paige into a few jams during her rebellious phase. Now, at twenty, Paige could orb objects to and from her without even calling out, and she was developing powers very similar to Prue. The only power she had that differed so far was her ability to create shields, not only for herself but for others.

Sure, the sisters had some run-ins with demons at school dances, graduations, and just about every other important event during adolescents, but having their powers during their childhood had provided a sense of safety. The only thing the girls had missed growing up was their father, some more than others. Prue hadn't immediately taken to Sam, but after months of missing her father and realizing that Sam wasn't going anywhere, Prue had put her faith in the man that hadn't left her. Eventually he became Dad to her, and Piper and Phoebe grew up calling him Dad. Still, Phoebe and Piper always thought of the man that shared their genetics and wondered where he was. They had never tried to contact him, though, because they felt that would be betraying Sam.

They had all had their share of love and heart ache. In the past few months the sisters had gone against a demon named Belthazor, whom Phoebe had inadvertently fallen in love with in his human form as Cole Turner, Assistant District Attorney. Upon finding out that he was a demon the sisters had set about vanquishing him. In the end Prue, Piper and Paige had followed Phoebe and Cole to the mausoleum he had shimmered her to. Paige had used her sensing to find her sister in the graveyard and had orbed to her aid without her eldest sisters. When Prue and Piper arrived the younger two were standing over Cole's ashen remains, and Paige was telling them that Phoebe vanquished Cole. Since then the two girls hadn't been getting along and were driving the rest of the family crazy.

Phoebe and Paige were bickering as Piper was preparing dinner. Prue was staying late at a photo shoot and wouldn't be home until dinner was ready to be served. Patty and Sam sat in the conservatory watching television in order to avoid the constant fighting.

"Alright, if you don't get out of my kitchen right now, I'm going to do something you will both regret," twenty four year old Piper yelled at her sisters.

"Like what," Phoebe demanded.

"Bickering sisters allow no ease of mind, freeze them since they can't be kind," she said putting her sisters under a spell. As the two sisters froze in place, Piper willed herself to remember that spell for future use and got back to preparing the meal.

A half hour later when Prue came home she entered the kitchen to see Piper taking out plates and carefully maneuvering herself around Paige and Phoebe. "Uh, Piper…I thought you couldn't freeze good witches. I know they haven't exactly been themselves lately, but is there something I should know?"

"I didn't use my freezing power," Piper told her. "I used 'my words'," she said quoting her mother's famous advice to the middle child during her adolescents. "They couldn't say anything nice so they had to pay the price."

"How long do you think it will last?"

"Until I take the spell off."

"How are you going to do that?"

"Make it up, I guess. Can you set the table? Dad invited someone over for dinner. I think one of his whitelighter friends."

"So probably a million years old," Prue said and got a laugh from Piper.

"Probably."

"So, how are things with Dan," Prue asked.

Piper avoided Prue's gaze before saying, "Fine. I broke up with him last week."

"Why? I thought it was love," Prue said mimicking Piper's declaration of love from several months before.

"I just kind of felt that I was waiting for something more and as much as I love Dan I just get the feeling that he was more of a place holder until I find whatever it is I'm looking for."

"Ah, honey. Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"You know mom; she liked the idea of a mortal and Dan was a very nice, charming guy. I don't want to disappoint her."

"Sweetie," Prue said pulling her into a hug, "you know mom just wants you to be happy. She'll be okay with it."

The door bell rang and Piper yelled, "Don't worry. I'll get it," sarcastically as she passed her parents in the living room. Opening the door her mouth dropped at the sight of the incredibly handsome, young man in front of her.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm Leo, Sam's friend."

"_You're_ Sam's friend? Uh, come on in," she said holding the door for him.

* * *

"He's kind of gorgeous, isn't he," Prue asked Piper as they put the dirty dishes in the sink and got the desert ready. "You should go for him while Phoebe's still in her funk. You know Phoebe…"

"…She only likes guys she knows we like," Paige said entering the kitchen and depositing glasses into the sink.

"I don't know. He's handsome and sweet…and a whitelighter."

Paige smacked her arm with a dishtowel. "What does that mean?"

"It means the elders aren't exactly going to be happy with that kind of relationship. Look at mom and dad. They were only allowed to be together once Paige was conceived and they realized that we were the charmed ones. They didn't exactly make it easy for them…besides, why are we even talking about this? Nothing's happened. Let's just take desert out and bond with our new whitelighter, okay?"

The girls sat with Leo retelling stories of their past vanquishes and their everyday lives. He knew that Prue had double majored in history and fine art and had gone back to school for photo journalism which had led to her job as a very successful photographer who was in high demand. Leo also knew that Paige was in school to become an art teacher. Her work had already been shown in different galleries and she was using the money to help pay for school, while Phoebe was only going part time and was still trying to figure out what it was she wanted from life. Who he was most interested in was Piper, in ways he knew he shouldn't be.

"I have to tell you, there's a reason why the elders assigned me to you four right now rather than later. There's a hierarchy in the underworld, which you know since the triad has already sent assassins after you. The elders have learned of a prophecy that mirrors yours; four brothers descending from the Rowe coven who would be the most powerful source of evil the world has ever known."

"More powerful than the source," Paige said in disbelief.

"He might be the source but these brothers are like the tap, releasing a buildup of power that has coalesced over generations. They have grown up with their powers just like you and they share a similar bond. I know things have been off between the four of you. Whatever has happened you need to move past if you want to be ready; this is quite possibly the ultimate evil. So who wants to share," he said offering up the room to whoever could shine some light on the situation.

"It's about Belthazor," Paige said and received a look from Phoebe.

"What about him," Leo asked.

"Phoebe was in love with him," Prue said. "He maneuvered himself into our lives, and when we realized who he really was she was already involved with him. She was the one who vanquished him."

"No, I wasn't," Phoebe finally told them her secret. "I know that it's wrong and I'm sorry," she said crying, "but I was going to let him go. I was going to let him go but she…"

"I vanquished him," Paige said. "I did it."


	9. We were always meant to say goodbye

A/N: Okay, so here's the deal. This new realty is set in the time period of the first season as far as the girls' ages go. Since they have lived their entire life with powers they have new, cooler powers which we will get a taste of, but since they have been witches for an additional two plus decades the demonic threats they experience have increased toward story plots from seasons three and on. I thought this would be a nice way of avoiding episodes I've already used as well as create a more interesting fight between the charmed ones and the rowe coven. I really liked the concept of the rowe coven and thought that had it not been used in the first season it could have made an epic ultimate evil for the series finale. I also want to give the girls an easier path to a happy ending so I used Cole and then nixed him rather than trying to create some epic way to save him.

Thank you for the REVIEWS and please keep REVIEWING. I will try to keep writing for you and thank you for being open to the completely new direction this story is heading in...that's why it is called shades of gray.

* * *

"Hey, is Prue here?" Paige had been waiting to talk to her eldest sister after the heated argument that had gone on the night before.

Piper turned to look at her youngest sister with a spatula raised in her hand. "She had a photo shoot early this morning at the beach. Plus, I think she's trying to distance herself from Phoebe until things calm down."

"Until _things_ calm down?"

"Okay, until _Prue_ calms down. We all know what happens when Prue gets mad and I don't want to have to explain to our insurance agent how the house was blown to smithereens."

"So…are you angry with me?"

Piper put down the spatula and stared at her sister for a moment before turning her gaze down to the table top. "You did what me and Prue would have done. Phoebe wasn't capable of doing it and I understand why you did it, even why you lied and said she did it. You were protecting her, weren't you?"

"I knew what Prue would be like if she thought Phoebe chose Cole over us, but Phoebe didn't…doesn't get it."

"It's hard when you love someone who is all wrong for you. It was the most mature relationship Pheebs ever had and she must be going through an awful lot of pain. She'll move past it eventually, you just can't give up on her."

"And Prue? Is she gonna stay mad at her forever?"

"Prue, well let's just wait and see how that goes before we get in the middle, okay?"

"Okay," Paige dutifully agreed and popped a strawberry in her mouth.

* * *

Prue finished putting her equipment away and packed it up in the trunk of her SUV. She was fortunate enough that she was successful at what she did and made more than enough money as a freelance photographer to keep the manor taken care of and mortgage free. Still, she wondered sometimes what it would have been like had she not been charmed. It would have meant a lot more freedom to come and go as she pleased; taking more international job offers rather then turning them down in fear that she wouldn't be around when the power of four was needed.

She and her sisters had spent the past seven years fighting demons even as Prue tried to limit Phoebe's and Paige's involvement since they were still young. The year she had turned twenty Gram's had passed away from a heart condition. Piper had been seventeen and a senior in high school, Pheebs had been fifteen and Paige only thirteen. While they had all mastered spell writing, potion making, and completed several years of self defense, Prue wasn't willing to put her sisters in the middle of battle at such tender ages.

They had all had their rebellious phases –with the exception of Piper –and dealt with normal, everyday teenage problems like boys and school. While the sisters had certainly had their contrary opinions and fights, Prue had never expected anything to come between them. She was still reeling from the idea that her little sister could so easily risk not only her life but all of theirs over Cole. This knowledge depleted her faith, belief, and trust that she had in Phoebe. Her entire life Prue had been made to sacrifice her own needs and wants for her sisters; she was the protector and it was her sole responsibility in their lives to watch out for them. That was how she had lost Andy.

Her mother and father had told her she could go away to college and study photography, but Grams was so opinionated over the matter and had often lashed out at Prue. In the end Prue had chosen her sisters just like Grams had expected, and it hurt to know that her sister hadn't been willing to do the same for her. What was the purpose of being charmed, of being sisters and sharing that bond, if when it came down to the wire it meant nothing?

At twenty-seven years old Prue was healthy, mostly happy and extremely successful. Now, faced with her sister's betrayal and the likelihood of coming face to face in their final battle with the appropriately scary title "the ultimate evil", Prue was looking back on her life and wondering if she had missed all of the important opportunities like a husband and children. The eldest Halliwell couldn't help but think she had missed all chances for true happiness for a family that appeared to be ending before her eyes.

* * *

Phoebe stepped away from the kitchen entrance where she had been eavesdropping on Piper and Paige. She got it, really she did. Paige was the good sister who had protected everyone and done what was right for innocents everywhere. Phoebe even admired her for it.

As sisters they had all saved another from self-destructive choices in significant others. Hell, Phoebe and Paige saved Prue from a loveless marriage to that jerk Roger last year. She knew in time that she would complete her mourning period and need her sisters to lean on. What Phoebe hadn't realized was what her decision had meant to her sisters, even if she didn't fully realize why it bore such significance to Prue.

As she made her way up to the attic where she would put her plans into action, Piper and Paige greeted their eldest sister. None of the sisters fully understood the consequences of the past weeks.

"Where love is strong my spirit weak, it is an answer that I seek, the question burns within this fire, so I may hear the truth desired," Phoebe said holding a piece of burning paper. As it finished burning in her hands she suddenly felt woozy and felt a familiar tingle in her stomach. Seconds later she became aware of herself standing in the very same spot in a very different attic. Looking around, bright lights danced until the culminated into the arrival of her sisters.

"Pheebs, what did you do," Piper demanded.

"I cast a spell, but…"

"You cast a spell to bring us to the future," Prue asked. She had taken the couple of seconds when they first arrived to look around. "Look at this camera equipment, the technology is at least five years into the future. I've never seen anything like it," she said.

"I was just looking for an answer," the third sister tried to explain; "some kind of way to mourn and move on. I know what I said hurt you but I loved him and I need to know that what happened was really the better way."

"He was a demon," Prue said.

"I **know** that! But if we've learned anything than it's that our magic has never failed us and I need to know that there was no way to save him. He loved me, too; enough to want to give up his powers for me. That's what he told me right before Paige showed up. He wanted to be mortal…to be with _me_!"

"Pheebs, I'm sorry. I didn't know that," Paige said.

"That still doesn't explain the spell and why we got dragged into it," Piper said.

"I think I have an answer to that," an older, more mature Phoebe said entering the attic. Looking around she noticed Prue, and began to cry. "Is that really you," she asked softly before running to her sister and hugging her.

"Uh,"Prue uttered as the strange Phoebe held onto her. "What's going on?"

"I'm so sorry," the other woman said pulling away from her. "I never thought there would be a day when all four of us would be together, especially since there are two of me."

"We must be in an alternate universe," Piper said. "The time and space just feel and look completely different here," she said reaching a hand through the microscopic air particles that only she could see.

"Um, what's she talking about," the other Phoebe asked.

"Her power to see and move through alternate worlds," Paige said. "She doesn't have that power in this world?"

"No, just freezing and blowing up things. How long did you have your powers before that one showed up," she asked the younger version of Piper.

"I was eighteen," the young woman answered.

"Wait, you had powers as kids? And you were all raised together?"

"Why, we weren't here," Prue asked.

"No, we only found out about Paige after…" Phoebe trailed off.

"After what," Prue hounded.

Phoebe cast her gaze to the side and then to her feet. "After you died," Phoebe told her.

* * *

Phoebe explained the story to the visitors, sure not to give them too much future knowledge. She also found out what spell the younger Phoebe had cast and discovered that in their world she had also fallen in love with Belthazor even though it was years earlier.

"You cast the spell because you needed the truth. Are you prepared to hear it?"

The younger Phoebe looked at her sisters and back to her counterpart. "Yeah, I need to know."

"Alright, well then you should know that I couldn't vanquish him either. Since Paige wasn't raised with us Cole survived. We loved each other and were determined to be together. I stripped him of his powers and he became human."

"Really," Paige said and began to feel guilty.

"Yes. Unfortunately, during our first vanquish of the source Cole became possessed by the source while trying to save us. I married him under the influence of evil, conceived his spawn and nearly died carrying the child. I was queen of the underworld until I finally fought against the evil that was poisoning me and had to vanquish Cole in order to free him from the source."

"He had to be vanquished anyway," the other Phoebe said.

"Yes, but he managed to resurrect himself by collecting powers from other demons in the wasteland. Only by then I was completely disillusioned by our love and refused to acknowledge that the possession was the source. I looked at it as Cole was a demon; his choice, his actions. His love was stronger than mine. He fought so hard, but in the end he went mad from the powers he stole and my rejection. We tried vanquishing him but he had become invincible."

"What happened," Prue asked.

"In the end it was Paige, kind of anyway, who vanquished Cole. Somehow, during an attempt to win me back, he traveled to a parallel universe were Paige was killed before we found her. She managed to get me and Piper back together—don't ask any questions, I wasn't there and don't know much," she said when she saw Piper open her mouth. "She said it was me who finally vanquished him. Looking back on everything, I made a lot of mistakes. I stripped his powers but left him with no protection, vanquished the source and ignored my feelings for Cole. I was angry at him for a long time and then I was angry at myself for a long time. I hope that somehow he gets another chance to be good, I just know that love couldn't conquer all in this life."

"Thank you," the young girl said. "I needed to know what it would have been like if I could have saved him that night. I guess we were always meant to say goodbye," she finally realized. "Maybe it gave him some peace, until he gets another try," she offered to her other self.

Phoebe hugged her younger, alternate counterpart. "You do find love, you will be loved and you will love again. I hope all of you will," she said looking at Prue. "Even if you aren't my Prue, I'm just really glad to know that somewhere out there you have all the chances that you didn't have here. Make the best of them."

"I will," Prue said. "I promise." Turning, she looked at Piper. "Do you have this?"

"Easy peasy," she said and her hand cut through the air creating a portal. "All aboard."

* * *

Prue laid on her bed turning pages in her high school yearbook. Pictures of her and Andy littered it and she relived memories of being the homecoming queen and captain of the cheerleading squad. He had been her first love and her best friend. They had tried rekindling the flame when he moved back after college, but even though they loved each other it just wasn't meant to be. They both moved on and he met a wonderful woman named Susan. They were married two years ago in a beautiful ceremony Prue had attended with a friend. Looking back on her love with a man she was meant to say goodbye to, Prue wondered if there was a love for her in the future that she would be allowed to hold onto.

* * *

Paige opened Phoebe's door and heard her crying as she lay on her side hugging a pillow. Closing the door after entering, Paige climbed up next to her and held her as she released the pent up feelings from their trip earlier in the day. What Paige didn't realize was that Phoebe was crying at the thought of losing Prue in another world that wasn't really her own instead of the loss of her lover.


	10. SHW Fantasy

Paige was walking on campus enjoying the atmosphere that college had to offer. As a junior, she was now over the euphoria of complete and total freedom that made college kids act crazy and do stupid things. She had lived on campus for the first two years as mandated by the university and then had moved back to the manor, saving her some serious dough. Still, she had plenty of memories of drunken escapades and stupid yet friendly vandalism and enjoyed being around others her own age.

She was triple majoring in art history, the fine arts and education to get her certification to teach, but also took some psychology courses for her minor. Today, her adolescent psych class was having a guest speaker from the police department whom she noticed was a lot younger than she expected and hella cute. Taking her seat, Paige turned her full attention to the officer.

"Hi, guys. My name is Henry Matthews and I am a parole officer for the San Francisco Police department. I usually come in once a semester during this course for the unit on criminal activity involving adolescents. Before I do that let me give you a little bit of my background information. I am twenty-four years old, and I was in the foster care system until I was four years old. Right off the bat you should be hearing a ding-ding-ding going off in your heads. Many of the children who enter foster care also come from homes with criminal activity or are put in homes around areas of criminal activity. It was one of the motivating factors that led to my decision to become a parole officer. A lot of these kids need someone to look up to and can relate to me because of my experience. Now, I was lucky. At four years old I was adopted to a wonderful couple who couldn't have children. My father is a firefighter and also inspired my want to help the public…" he continued to speak.

After class had ended and Paige finished talking to some friends she made her way out of the building where she ran into Henry full force. "I am so sorry," she said.

"It's alright," he replied picking himself up off the ground. "I wish I had beautiful women on top of me every day," Henry said and noticed Paige blush. "You were in Professor Mackenzie's psych class, right?"

"Yeah, you were great in there. I actually managed to stay awake," she joked.

"Well maybe one good turn deserves another," he said. "Do you maybe want to have dinner with me sometime?"

"I would love to," Paige answered and the two exchanged numbers. "Call me," she said before walking away with a new bounce in her step.

* * *

Piper and Leo were sitting at Quake, playing with their food and avoiding eye contact and erupting in giggles and blushing on the occasion where their gazes met. They had been tip toeing around each other for the past two weeks and Piper had finally gotten up the nerve to ask him out –at Phoebe's encouragement, of course.

"I have to admit, I knew the charmed ones would be an impressive bunch but you guys are beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Your powers are out of this world, I mean who else can move through time and space by sheer will," Leo asked.

"Well, we're lucky," Piper said. Two weeks had passed since the sisters' little trip to an alternate world and Piper was still digesting everything they had learned there. "When Phoebe's spell brought us to that other world it made me wonder what it would have been like to grow up without powers. It might have been nice, but I don't think I would like the idea of wasting so much time for developing them. They had to learn from scratch, had no help, and made the kinds of sacrifices I can't imagine making. I don't know what happened differently but whatever it was I'm thankful for it," she said and smiled bashfully as Leo took her hand in his.

"I'm glad, too. I can't imagine loving any other version of you," he said and Piper felt a weird sensation fall over her that was kind of warm and…_fuzzy_? No one had ever made her feel that way before.

* * *

"I don't know Phoebe, the Betsey Johnson dress may be a bit too much for work," Paige said as she, Prue, and Phoebe walked through the double doors.

"That's what a new wardrobe's all about. Pushing the limit."

"Yeah, and stretching the budget," Prue added. "Maybe I should just check with Piper," she said before hearing a very feminine giggle and a contrastingly male laugh.

"Oh my God, Prue," Piper said upon seeing her sister. She froze Leo only to trip over his leg and slide across the floor stopping at Prue's, Paige's, and Phoebe's feet before they helped pick her up.

"I'm so embarrassed," she said putting a hand to her forehead.

"Of course, she might have other things on her mind like having her way with the whitelighter," Phoebe said.

"I thought you guys were supposed to be shopping," Piper said still fighting off waves of panic.

"Obviously," Prue said.

Phoebe noticed Piper's open shirt and pulled it aside to show her other sisters.

"Oh, look," Paige said to her sisters. "Front clasp bra. She means business."

"Serious business," Prue agreed.

"Do you mind," Piper asked smacking Phoebe's hand aside.

"No, are you kidding? I think it's great. As long as he's not still on the clock, you know. We wouldn't want those pesky elders getting mad at us."

"That's what I mean. You guys have to get out of here before he unfreezes. I never know how long this things lasts. How much did you guys spend," she asked when she finally noticed the shopping bags.

"Lots. Prue's new look is perfect for an SHW," Phoebe announced.

Prue turned to her little sister. "SHW?"

"Prue, are you sure this isn't depression buying, you know, post life altering experience? You know, our trip to that other future?"

Phoebe took out a red lace lingerie set and held it up to Piper. "Does this look like something a depressed woman would wear?"

"Hmm, maybe you should borrow it," Paige said holding up to Piper.

"Okay, time's up. You three gotta go. Go, go in there and be quiet," she commanded and shoved them into the living room.

"We will if you will," Phoebe joked as Piper walked back to Leo and joined him in running up the stairs once the freeze broke.

They waited for the sounds of the couples' footsteps to go away before emerging from the living room and entering the kitchen. Phoebe pulled out their own individual pints of ice cream and handed them out as Prue got the spoons.

"So, is it slutty of me if I have sex on a first date," Paige asked and was answered by two awkward looks from her big sisters.

"You mean you haven't," Phoebe asked only to get a kick from Prue.

"Don't listen to her," Prue said. "There was a reason why her nick name was 'Freebie'," she told Paige.

"You guys know that wasn't true, right," Phoebe whined.

"What about you, Prue? Ever had sex on the first date," Paige asked.

"Only with Andy and that was the second time around. Besides, I've only been with two other people and one of them was Roger," she said and Paige and Phoebe both made 'yech' sounds.

"You really need to get some," Pheebs said.

"Have either of you ever noticed how hot some of the bad guys are? I mean, obviously you have Pheebs, but some of them are downright sextastical," the littlest Halliwell said.

"You're creepy," Prue answered.

"I mean it. Some of them have this dark, sinister, sexy as sin look and sometimes I find them –not evil—sexy. Especially during fights. I always feel so," Paige's body tensed and she shook her hands while trying to find the right words, "horny." Let's face it; there was no right way of announcing that.

"I knew I wasn't the only one," Phoebe said, still wounded by the lack of sensitivity from her sisters but basking in their bantering. It had been so painful to know her sisters were angry at her.

"May I suggest you seek help," Prue said. "Preferably psychological," she suggested.

"Maybe Prue will find her eyes meeting a hot, sexy warlocks gaze in the midst of battle and the two of them will be so passionately aroused that they'll stop fighting right in the middle in order to have hot, angry hate sex," Paige said in a mockingly romantic voice.

"But after the first round of hot, angry hate sex," Phoebe continued, "they will find themselves having slow, sweet love making and their love for each other will be confirmed."

"And her love will transform him into a hot, sexy mortal who spends the rest of his days worshiping her," Paige finished and both girls received pinches and muttered, "ow, ow, ow".

"In what world would that ever happen," Prue said in a testy tone, unaware of her past experiences in a previous life.

The girls finished their ice cream and made their way to the living room to watch a chick flick. The entire time Prue day dreamed of her sisters' hypothetical love story.


	11. Getting Proactive

"We need a plan," Piper said to her sisters as they convened at the dining room table. "Tell me again why we had no idea that this prophecy even existed?"

"Because while good used our prophecy to create fear in the heart of evil, the other side kept it a secret in order to keep us from having time to prepare," Prue said. "Four brothers, each with a unique power of their own, destined to be the greatest force of evil the world has ever known; the evil charmed ones," she said with a dark edge to her voice.

"Piper's right, we need a plan," Phoebe said backing her up. "It's the only way to know that we're prepared when we come up against them."

"So we come up with a plan of attack. So what's first on the list," Paige asked.

"Well, the problem with evil is that it tends to hide in plain sight and comes out in strong numbers. We should take out any allies these brothers might have," Prue said. "Cut off their resources."

"Okay, but we should also make sure we protect our resources," Paige added. "Chances are these brothers will retaliate and we need all the help we can get."

"So we need offensive and defensive strategies," Phoebe said. "How do we choose what to do?"

"Well, I can think of one person who can help us," Piper said. "As long as you don't mind losing a little blood," she added wrinkling her nose at the thought.

* * *

"Well, the spell works by blood calling blood, so it shouldn't hurt... much," Piper said handing the knife to Paige.

"You lied, you lied," Phoebe said before handing the knife to a reluctant Paige. "Okay, come on guys. It'll be just like the summer by the lake. Remember when we made a blood oath to be friends forever, not just sisters?"

Prue took the knife that Phoebe was holding out to Paige and pricked her finger with it.

"I remember Piper's finger got infected," Paige said.

"Yeah, but the oath worked," Prue reminded her and held the knife out for her.

"And she couldn't go in the water for three weeks. Don't hand me that knife," Paige told her eldest sister; she still looked squeamish.

"How are you gonna cut yourself," Prue asked smartly.

"She's not," Piper said grabbing the knife and pricking Paige's finger.

"Ow," the youngest cried.

"All over," Piper said. "Come on, it's not like we've never bled for a potion before," she reminded Paige.

"Paige," Phoebe started to say.

"I can't stand the sight of blood," she said cutting her sister off.

"Evil beings have blown up in our attic," Prue reminded her.

"Disintegrated to dust right before our very eyes," Piper added.

"And you're afraid of a little drop of blood," Prue asked.

"Alright already," Paige said. "Jeez, you already jabbed me so can we get on with the spell?"

Dripping their blood into a ceremonial bowl the sisters began to chant and magic could be felt in the air. "Penelope Halliwell, blood of our blood...Our grandmother. We summon thee," they said calling on their magic.

Shiny baubles of light floated until Penny's figure formed. "Hello darlings. It's so nice to see you again, or rather, to be seen by you again. Now, how can I help you?"

* * *

"I have to say I am extremely pleased you thought of me," Penny said to her granddaughters. "Your instincts were right, I am extremely experienced in the art of battling demons," she continued not noticing the eye rolls and goofy smirking in response to her arrogance. "Now, let's see. Where to begin," she murmured. "Well, let's start by making lists. We can start with our offense."

"We wanted to compile a list of allies the brothers might have and take them out," Prue told Grams.

"Good, you'll cut them off at the knees. Now, who would need to be on this list?"

"All the major players," Piper responded. "The source, the triad, associates of the Rowe coven. Just about anyone who they can draw strength from."

"Good, good. That's a start. It also means we need to do some investigating, getting a picture of their lives," Grams said. "Phoebe and Paige can get started on that."

"Why us," Paige complained.

"Because, my dear, you have the power to appear and disappear in places one would never expect, and Phoebe's power of premonition can help get us the drop on what their plans are. It's just a fact finding mission. You two should be able to remain safe."

"Then what should Piper and I do," Prue asked.

"You are going to call Andy and see if he can get any background checks on these warlocks, just in case the girls can't get anything. Then, you and Piper and I are going to sit down, go through the book, and make our hit list."

"Hit list," Piper asked. "Why Grams, I never knew you had it in you to sound like a hit man," she joked.

"My darlings, there is a great deal you don't know about my style," she replied with a smug smile.

* * *

Prue made a call to Andy who got started on the background checks for the sisters. He had been aware of her secret for years now and tried to help out whenever he could, knowing that somehow the sisters were making the world a better place to be. Finding information on Kaleb, Greg, and Paul had been difficult as the mostly stayed off the grid. Brendan, however, was a lot easier to find and oddly enough it was through Andy's priest that he ended up locating the warlock.

"So he's a warlock masquerading as a priest," Prue asked Andy over the phone.

"Whatever he is, he's involved with Father Austin. Just promise me that whatever you do, you'll keep him safe. I received my first communion from him; he's a good man. He doesn't deserve to be a casualty."

"I promise you, Andy. Father Austin will be perfectly safe. I'll make sure of it. I've gotta go, but tell Susan I said hi."

"Sure, maybe after this is all done you can come over for dinner. She misses her best friend," Andy told her.

"Well her best friend misses her too. I just don't want to get her in the middle of anything. I'll talk to you later, okay," Prue said and hung up. Putting the phone back on its hook, she left the kitchen and found Grams and Piper sitting at the dining table making a list. "Uh, that was Andy. He couldn't find much on the older three, but the youngest lives around here at Andy's church."

"You're kidding me, right?" Piper looked at her in disbelief. "That's just sacrilegious," she added.

"I don't know what's going on but Andy said that Brendan's attending seminary school and has been volunteering at the church for years now. It's either a very clever ruse or it might be our way to destroy his brothers."

"Prue, darling, do you really think this warlock is capable of helping us destroy _his_ prophecy? This is probably a trick, a way to allow one of them into your life in order to find out your game plan."

"Then we let him in," Prue said.

"Are you kidding me?" Piper looked at her sister as if she were nuts. "You want to let the warlock come home for supper," she quipped.

"No, but if he's here we can throw him off by feeding him false information and if he really is trying to get away from his brothers then he can be an ally."

"What are the chances that he's really trying to get away from them," Piper asked.

"None," Grams answered.

"We can't know that," Prue said. "And if we don't let him in, even to just keep an eye on him and figure out their plans, and it turns out he's exactly what he's trying to make it look like…then he's an innocent," she said and Piper and Grams released the breaths they were holding.

"So in other words we have no choice," Piper argued.

"None," Grams repeated her earlier sentiment.

* * *

Paige and Phoebe had gone down to the underworld to see what they could dig up. After several hours of finding nothing, they responded to Prue's call and orbed back to the manor.

"Did you find anything," Phoebe asked.

"Oh, just that the youngest is attending seminary at Andy's old church," Piper told them.

"Wait, this warlock is trying to become a priest? That's just wrong, now we have to take him down," Paige said offended at the notion.

"Yeah, well try telling that to Prue. She came up with the brilliant idea of leading him back here."

"Why?"

"Oh, the possibility that he actually does want to be a priest which would make him a good guy," Piper said and was interrupted by Phoebe.

"Um, hello! Did she learn nothing from the Cole thing?"

"Oh, I learned plenty," Prue said entering the attic where she and Piper had moved the operation a couple of hours ago. "I also know that it's better to keep your enemies close. Even Grams is warming up to the idea."

"What about mom and dad," Phoebe said, knowing they would probably be against it.

"Do you really want to involve them? They just got away from all the fighting," Paige said.

"Look, this plan will allow us to keep an eye on him, find his brothers who are pretty much nonexistent to the rest of the world, and find out what they might be planning. Now, it just so happens that the seminary students are attending a retreat which means his room will be empty. It would be a good time to go and see if Pheebs can get a premonition off of any of his stuff," Prue commanded.

Paige looked at Prue and knew her tone allowed no margin for nonsense. Holding out her hand, she orbed once Phoebe took it and brought them to the church. "Do you know what we're supposed to be looking for," Paige asked.

"Anything that seems personal so I can get a read off of," Phoebe answered and the two started searching the room. It was bare and lacked furnishings other than the bed and a small dresser.

"He doesn't seem to have too much personal stuff," Paige said.

"Hey, what about this," Phoebe asked as she found a worn picture of a young Brendan with a woman that looked to be his mother. She pulled it out of his dresser draw and was pulled into memories of Brendan's past. "Oh my god," she said and put the picture back.

"What is it?"

"Prue was right, he's an innocent."

"What," Paige said in disbelief. "What did you see?"

"Brendan, being attacked at the retreat by his brothers. We have to get back to the manor. Come on," she urged grabbing Paige's hand.

* * *

"So, he is an innocent," Grams said. "Well that is a surprise, and a lucky break. It means the brothers haven't created their bond and we are ahead of schedule."

"Are you coming with us," Paige asked.

"No, I'll stay here and prepare for his brothers just in case they follow you back here. Now go," she commanded and watched them take off in bright orbs.


	12. Dream a little dream

A/N: I know this is extremely short, but I am a huge fan of supernatural and there was a video for Dean and Lisa to the song Dream a little dream by The Mamas and the Papas and I couldn't get it out of my head. Please listen to the song on youtube as you read this. It really creates the tone of this short chapter.

* * *

Dream a little dream of me

_Stars shining bright above you; Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you."  
Birds singing in the sycamore tree. Dream a little dream of me._

Stars shone brightly in the night sky, dancing along with the sway of the branches in the sycamore tree as the night wind pushed everything into motion as if the conductor of the scene playing out before her. The clouds, fluffy and light, moved across the sky in a sweet, romantic glide. Moving towards him, her bare feet reveled in the feel of the grass wet with dew. The morning was only a few hours away and she knew that this time was all they would have for now.

_Say nighty-night and kiss me; just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me.  
While I'm alone, blue as can be,dream a little dream of me._

Their embrace was tender and loving, no traces of the fiery passion that had first brought them together in heated battle. The influence of the outside world was absent in this moment, and both could only pay attention to the pulling on their heart strings that had led to this. Soon they would have to go back to their everyday lives, putting their feelings behind them; ignoring them as they would ignore each other.

_Stars fading but I linger on, dear-still craving your kiss.  
I'm longing to linger till dawn, dear,just saying this...  
_  
They lied down together, the light from the night sky was being snuffed by the awakening of day. Underneath a sycamore tree, holding on to each other, they didn't think of the day to come or the ones that would follow.

_Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you-Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you.  
But in your dreams, whatever they be, dream a little dream of me._

This time was all they would have together free of the hurt, sorrow, and exhaustion that would follow. This time together was what they would be dreaming of until the light of all good touched their face once more, when their demons were conquered. They could dream of each other until that time, and they would dream of each other. It was the only way they would remain sane._  
_  
_Stars fading but I linger on, dear-Still craving your kiss. I'm longing to linger till dawn, dear, just saying this..._

Prue held out her hand and pressed it against Brendan's cheek, biting her lips before finally giving into one last temptation and kissing him. Neither wanted to leave the other, and they stayed for as long as they could; as long as the sun remained far away and even until first light broke on the horizon.

_Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you-Sweet dreams that leave all worries far behind you.  
But in your dreams, whatever they be, dream a little dream of me._

Phoebe glanced at her eldest sister as they gathered Brendan up after the attack by his brothers. They had been strong, but not nearly as strong as the sisters since they were down one brother. Phoebe had yet to mention this part of her vision to her sisters because even though she had hope that Brendan could be saved and her sister would finally have the love she had been missing, Phoebe was still dealing with her experience with Cole and she had little faith.

Still, Phoebe knew how precious those few minutes with your love could be; those moments you would dream about until you were no longer in the business of dreaming. The memories would linger forever, sometimes painful reminders of a love you couldn't hold onto and sometimes beautiful reminders of the kind of love few people ever know. She would let her sister have that for herself. As close as the four were, it rarely allowed any of them to have just one thing for themselves.

Looking at the two interact, Phoebe prayed to God that Brendan could be saved.


	13. Name

A/N: I don't know why but I've been getting songs stuck in my head and just couldn't help relating them to Brendan and Prue. I've never written song fics before and I'm sorry if it's annoying but this is what's running through my head. Sorry. So the last chapter was Phoebe's premonition and this chapter is the vision set in motion. Sorry, I've just been getting lovey dovey pieces of fluff stuck in my head.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since the sisters had saved Brendan from his fierce, brutal brothers. Brendan had been staying with the sisters, training in his powers which had been dormant for years now, and helping to coordinate offensive attacks against the triad and the source. Demonic tribes and clans were being taken out left and right as the sisters showed the other side just how powerful they were. His brothers were trying to create alliances quickly as the charmed ones took out their old ones.

Still, his brothers were strong and had proven so tonight when Kaleb had faced Prue. Equally matched, an end had been nowhere in sight. That is, until Greg and Paul had managed to catch Brendan off guard. They were desperate to turn him quickly in order to gain back some of their ground work with their plans to take out the charmed ones. The sisters had already taken out the source, no easy feat, and they were wreaking havoc on the underworld so much so that demons wanted nothing to do with the brothers. Capturing Brendan had stopped Prue's ability to fight. Though Brendan knew that if Prue could take Kaleb out that none of this would be a problem, he also knew that Prue would never sacrifice an innocent just for the vanquish.

Prue had allowed herself to be tricked by their scam and had received a stab wound to her heart. Her sisters were held at bay by Paul's shielding power, and only then had she been saved by Paige's ability to telekinetically orb things. Piper had scared his brothers off with her explosive power and Paige had healed Prue. Returning to the manor, Prue had stayed up even after her sisters retired to their bedrooms and she was standing in the gazebo in the backyard. Brendan went to her their and neither could say a word or look at the other. They stood their for minutes just wondering what they would have done if something had happened to the other.

_And even though the moment passed me by I still can't turn away Cause all the dreams you never thought you'd lose Got tossed along the way And letters that you never meant to send Get lost or thrown away  
_Brendan watched Prue turn to go and grasped her upper arm. Looking down at his hand first, Prue then turned her gaze upwards and met his. Tears could be seen in her crystal blue eyes; sorrow and longing could be found in his.

_And now we're grown up orphans That never knew their names We don't belong to no one That's a shame But if you could hide beside me Maybe for a while And I won't tell no one your name _

They lingered in the moment unsure of what to do or say. Neither had the courage to name what it was they wanted. Somewhere along the line they had stopped allowing themselves to dream. Both had learned long ago that giving into such folly would only mean hurt later when others stole and slaughtered those wants.

Still, Brendan had to believe there was hope for him and for her, and so he took her in his arms and held her there for minutes as they clung to each other. This time alone would be few and far between as they tried to make a life for themselves without the evil that followed them everywhere. Locked in their embrace, both were safe from outside influence and they knew that no one but the other could ever know their true needs and desires.

_Scars are souvenirs you never lose The past is never far Did you lose yourself somewhere out there Did you get to be a star And don't it make you sad to know that life Is more than who we are  
_

They fit together as if sculpted and shaped to mold together as one; a piece of art. No one else could understand the hurt that had created them. The loss of loved ones, childhood, innocence, could be seen but not understood by others. Neither could they understand the effects of true evil's influence on this man and this woman. The dreams and hopes that had been killed along the way; the small pieces that became huge chunks in their hearts and souls.

_You grew up way too fast And now there's nothing to believe And reruns all become our history  
A tired song keeps playing on a tired radio And I won't tell no one your name And I won't tell your name  
_

Brendan and Prue had become used to history repeating itself. The deaths of loved ones, sacrifice of dreams, the constant hurt that accompanied their battles. But they understood each other. They knew the deepest darkest places in one another because they were the same and as long as they were together they didn't need to put a name on what or why they were.

Brendan and Prue had become used to history repeating itself, so instead of lingering in the heartache they moved forward. Lips met hesitating a split second before skin to skin contact was made and Prue sighed as Brendan moaned. They could have each other; they could have this if only just for right now.

_I think about you all the time But I don't need the same  
It's lonely where you are come back down And I won't tell your name_

Phoebe looked out her window into the backyard, praying that this wouldn't be the only memory the two lovers would share. She had to hope that they were to have more time together than what she had only seen in her vision two weeks earlier. _  
_


	14. Unholy unions

"What do we do," Piper yelled to her sisters. The manor was wrecked, and furniture was thrown all over the place. The past couple of weeks had been overwhelming for the sisters as they continually faced Brendan's brothers as they scrambled to destroy the sisters.

Kaleb, Greg, and Paul had desperately tried to put an end to the charmed ones by going to the past and preventing Charlotte from giving birth to Melinda Warren. After that mission failed, they tried to intercept a warlock's attempts to gain the charmed powers by having Patty bless a ring with immunity. Next, they had tried to gain control over the nexus and take over the manor itself. Now the brothers had ambushed them and were causing mayhem in the manor.

"Duck," Paige yelled throwing a potion at two of the brothers who were advancing on Piper. Phoebe hid behind the dinner table which was serving as a barracks and trying to come up with a spell to provide some much needed time for her and her sisters to plan their next move.

Prue waved her hand and sent Greg hurdling into Paul after they had managed to explode Paige's potion before it ever hit them. The brothers grumbled as they picked themselves off of the floor and Kaleb blinked in behind Prue, grabbing her and blinking out before any of the sisters could do anything. Greg and Paul followed their brother's lead, leaving Piper, Phoebe, and Paige one sister short of the power of four.

* * *

"Not to be ungrateful, but what do you get out of making Prue Halliwell my wife," Kaleb asked the dark priestess.

"I was but a humble servant of the Source, Kaleb. I get nothing other than the benefits we all reap whenever good is turned evil, and the satisfaction of revenge for his vanquish."

"Still, for all the unions you've consecrated, it seems you should get something, especially for this one."

"There is a spoil that intrigues me," Dantalian said as she dropped a scorpion into a metallic bowl. "The Halliwell Book of Shadows is said to be the most magical of all tomes."

"The witch's Book of Shadows? That shouldn't be too hard to get now that the sisters are down a member. My brothers should be able to take them on as I obtain it for you," Kaleb said with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"This one is. Evil can't touch it, although turning Prue evil should turn her sisters and their Book evil as well. Their magic is interconnected."

"Well, then I'll get it for you myself, as a token of my gratitude," he told her.

"First things first. Performing the ceremony. That's what this potion is for. After I bind her in evil, she'll fall into a deep sleep where the transformation to evil will occur."

* * *

Phoebe sat at the table scrying for Prue while Piper came down the stairs carrying the Book of Shadows. Paige was trying to sense her eldest sister and Brendan was fuming.

"Find her," Piper asked setting the book on the table.

"Not yet," Phoebe answered and Paige just shook her head in response.

"We're screwed," Piper told them.

"Not yet," Phoebe reaffirmed when Leo orbed in, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Leo, what did you find out," Piper asked.

"Nothing."

"Okay, now we're screwed," Phoebe said agreeing with her sister.

"Nothing on the map, nothing in the Book. Leo, somebody must know something," Piper asserted.

"Well, the Elders support your theory that the brothers are somehow blocking her from our radar, but they can't get a clear read on the situation."

"So there's no way of sensing her," Paige asked, clearly angry.

"Something like that. But she can't be dead. They'd be able to sense that no matter how evil is interfering."

"So how are my brothers hiding her?"

"With powerful magic, or very powerful knowledge."

"Or someone with a lot of knowledge," Paige said. "They've never been able to pull off something like this on their own, so they have to be working with someone right?"

"Okay, but who? You destroyed all of my brothers' allies. You even took out the source," Brendan reminded them.

"But we didn't take out his most close and personal friends," Phoebe said getting an idea. "Whoever is helping them would have to be pretty up on the food chain, too, if they have the kind of magic we think they do."

"So what," Paige said, "we go on a new crusade and take out all upper level demons? How would we even know where to start?"

"With the one we have in our pocket; Cole."

* * *

Kaleb stood over Prue, who was dressed in a black top and skirt that combined the delicate and sensual states in silk and mesh fabric. Greg and Paul were overjoyed with their success, yet still angry about not being able to decimate the sisters.

"Shut up," the eldest screamed. His eyes were as dark as the depths of hell, with no light or warmth coming through. "We have an opportunity even better than killing the witches," he told his little brothers. "We can turn them away from good, add their numbers in our favor, and use them to sway Brendan to our side. And if we play our cards right, gain a bride for each of us," Kaleb said. "Imagine the kind of power we could create in our offspring. Think of the world we can create for ourselves, and all we had to do was steal one of the witches to turn all four."

"Shall we begin," Dantalian asked.

"I'm ready."

"We must prepare her for the evil before we bind her to you. It will prevent her from being able to fight through the magic later on, should her sisters find you before they too have been affected by the magic," Dantalian informed Kaleb.

"Do it," he said.

"In the beginning, we were damned, and through damnation, we found freedom, power, and purpose to allow ourselves to do as we please, and shed unwanted burdens that hold us down. May these gifts increase so your powers may grow in the service of evil. So be it".

"How long before her transformation is complete?"

"Sundown. Can you wait that long to make her your bride?"

"For the power of the Charmed Ones? I can wait a few hours," Kaleb said.

* * *

"Well, that doesn't make sense. Warlocks don't have that kind of power," Cole said after learning that Brendan's brothers were somehow blocking Prue from the elders. "He must be working with somebody that does. Certain dignitaries have the power to shield their activities. Demonic judges, dark priests, anyone who needs privacy for rituals."

Phoebe stood in the attic with her sisters, whitelighter, and Brendan. She had summoned Cole in the hopes that maybe a small part of him –the human part—had been saved when Paige had vanquished him. "What kind of rituals? To accomplish what?"

"It's hard to say. Could be anything. They may want your Book. We all want your Book."

"Well, how can we find out who wants it now," Paige asked.

"I want my sister back," Phoebe told him, noticing his look of hesitance.

"No matter the cost?"

"We want our sister back," Piper said stepping closer to him.

"You'll need a bounty hunter," he told the three sisters. "You won't be able to find her yourselves because you're not evil."

* * *

"I thought you said there was nothing in the Book," Leo said.

"Well, now there's just a whole bunch of weirdness in it. Look," Piper shoved the book at him.

"Hemlock killing spell? That doesn't belong in here."

"But it does have possibilities."

"Piper," Leo said a little concerned and before he knew what was happening she had blinked into the kitchen.

"You blinked," he told her.

"I did not. Only warlocks do that."

* * *

Brendan and Leo sat in the sun room with the book. The three sisters had long since gone, having started their own version of magical freeze tag.

"The Book is changing because of them. It is an extension of the power of three and whatever turned them evil is affecting the book."

"This is what I was afraid of. Whoever has got Prue is somehow reaching her sisters. It could be anyone willing to gain favor with my brothers if they think they have a chance of overpowering the charmed ones," Brendan told Leo.

* * *

"You know, if what's happening to us is happening to Prue..." Piper began to say.

"Then the power of four can be truly amazing. We have to find her," Phoebe said.

"No more obeying the rules, considering the consequences, none of that crap," Paige said.

"Time to find Prue and go for broke," Phoebe told them.

Piper and Phoebe blinked out, letting Paige orb in a swarm of black, glittering lights that traveled close to the ground.

"Are we there yet," Paige said snidely. "Prue," she said noticing her eldest sister.

"Nice to see you've arrived just in time for the nuptials," Kaleb said as the sisters turned their attention to the Rowe brothers. "Are you ready to give away the bride," he asked smartly.

Prue woke from her sleep and allowed Kaleb to assist her off the alter as Dantalian took her place behind the alter.

"Excuse me," Piper said.

"This ceremony will cement you and your sister in evil, sanctifying your recent change."

"All the better," Paige said stepping to stand behind Prue. Phoebe joined her shortly and Piper looked back and forth between Prue, the priestess, and the brothers. "Let's do this," she said.

The priestess performed the ceremony, and it was about to come to an end when Brendan blinked in. "Stop."

Kaleb looked from his bride's eyes to his youngest brother's. "Do you really think you can stop us? In case you haven't noticed, it's seven against one."

"I'm not trying to stop you from turning them," he said stepping onto the alter and displaced Kaleb. He looked into Prue's eyes. "But I'm going to be the one to be joined with Prue."

"By all means," Kaleb said. "But seeing as how you've spent your life trying to deny your heritage, you won't be insulted by my suspicion of your sudden willingness to be bound in a dark union and the need to take measures to ensure the outcome of today's event."

"What do you need," Brendan said slowly turning to look at his brother.

"Four men; four women looking to concrete our status in the pursuit of evil. One marriage alone is not as strong as four."

"You want us to marry you," Paige said and snorted.

"Do you want to go back to good," Paul asked.

"So that's it? If I want Prue, we have to have a quadruple wedding?"

"It's the only way to make sure you aren't tricking us," Phoebe said.

Dantalian instructed the four couples to stand together, hand in hand, with Kaleb joining hands with Piper, Greg with Phoebe and Paul with Paige. The grooms presented each bride with a blood red rose, as instructed by Dantalian, and each bride's finger pricked by a thorn. The priestess had them each drip their blood in a goblet of wine, and both the bride and groom drank from their offering cups.

**"**Not two but one, then life be gone. You may kiss the bride," she said.

* * *

Leo sat at the table, praying that Brendan had found a way to save the sisters when he heard the elders' call and turned his head up towards the ceiling. He retreated from the manor and made his way to the heavens before the sisters and their grooms reclaimed the manor. The elders had revoked Leo as their whitelighter, because once they had chosen evil, they had revoked their right to a whitelighter. He had no idea what he was going to tell the girls' parents.


	15. Antidote

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. I finally have some time to myself and decided to update. I had no idea how to get the characters out of the situation from the previous chapter but I think I have successfully figured it out. I hope you like it...please review.

* * *

The future is never set, yet there are some things that can't be changed. It's a strange blur of black and white, as well as all of the shades of gray they make. Some shades are darker than others, almost as dark as evil. Others are so light you cannot tell their difference from white. Other possible futures are the perfect balance. Still, the future is unpredictable. No one knows what can and will change, and what can't ever be changed.

* * *

Brendan pulled his lips back hesitantly, his eyes still closed and the endorphins still rushing to his brain from Prue's kiss. They were the last to pull away from each other. Opening her eyes with clarity for the first time, she stood there star struck and lifted a hand to his cheek before kissing him softly.

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige each stumbled; trying to grip their new husbands for support as they suddenly became woozy; the evil releasing its grip on their souls. Kaleb yelled fiercely as he pushed Piper away and grabbed Brendan, turning him. "What did you do," he screamed.

"Evil and good, like fire and oil, both unite with dangerous spark," Prue recited, "cast in blood and not in love, marriage vows are now revoked. Your evil reign has now expired, vanquished by our charmed power," she finished after having made her way to her younger sisters.

The brothers had backed away when she started casting her spell. They had tried to use their powers to vanquish the sisters and were held at bay by Paige's shielding power, similar to Paul's.

The sisters held hands as Prue recited it the spell again. It was strong enough to hold the brothers in place, stuck in excruciating pain, but they weren't being vanquished. Prue changed her tactics. "Charlotte, Melinda, Prudence, Brianna, Helena and Grace. Pearl, Priscilla, Penelope and Patrice. Halliwell witches stand strong beside us. Vanquish this evil from time and space."

The three brothers suddenly combusted in flames that jumped high toward the sky before leaving no trace that they had ever existed and Brendan stared back from the space where they had once stood and then to his bride.

"Not that I'm complaining," Piper said. "But what just happened?"

"I used the spell we used on the source to vanquish the brothers. I figured it was the most powerful spell we had and since it worked on the source it must work on them," Prue answered.

"Okay, but how were you able to undo all of the side effects of their plan," Paige asked. "I'm pretty sure that we were evil, and that we all married evil. So how did you undo that?"

"With my help," the dark priestess answered before walking down the altar to where the sisters stood. "The brothers would not have stopped going after you, but they were not powerful enough without the youngest to defeat you. These past months have seen the almost total devastation of the underworld at your hands. They had to be stopped," Dantallian said. "I approached Prudence and Brendan last week and we set our plan in motion."

"You worked with a demon," Phoebe yelled in shock. "How did you know you could trust her," she screamed.

"Dantallian was kind enough to sign a truce," Brendan answered. "It's a contract that can't be broken by penalty of death. If she had tried to go back on it then she would have been vanquished immediately."

"So what, you got kidnapped on purpose," Piper asked.

"Actually, yes," Prue told them. "I was pretty sure they wouldn't kill me because that would keep Brendan from ever joining them."

"What about us turning evil? That was real, I felt it," Paige said.

"That was a potion I made for your sister," the priestess explained. "I told the brothers it would cement her bond with evil but what it really did was cloak you in evil. It helped them believe that they had the upper hand. It wore off when Brendan and Prudence kissed; his lips were lined with the antidote."

"So we're not really married," Paige said.

"Nope," Prue said, shaking her head.

"Thank God, I've got a date with Henry later," Paige said and her sisters laughed. "Is there anything left to do here or can we go home?"

"You're welcomed to leave now," Dantallian said. "I was more than happy to work with you this time and our truce prevents me from ever working against you, but I would feel safer if you left."

"_You_ would feel safer," Piper said. "You're the demon," she pointed out.

"Yes, but while you have assurance that I won't come after you, I don't have any that you won't vanquish me."

"Nice doing business with you," Paige bit off her sarcastic retort. "All aboard the cosmic taxi," she said, and they all returned to the manor.

"Leo," Piper called when they walked through the doors. The whitelighter appeared looking relieved.

"Thank goodness you're okay. There was widespread panic up there once the elders felt your shift to evil."

"Prue's master plan," Phoebe said. "She didn't feel the need to clue us in on the plan."

"Well I've never seen the elders so worried," Leo told them. "The idea of evil corrupting the charmed ones was enough to have the entire council of elders called. They want to meet you."

"Wait, like we would get to go up there," Phoebe said in wonderment. "What do they want with us?"

"I don't know," he said. "But they'd like a council with you now," he said and was met with five nervous stares.

* * *

"Why am _I_ here," Brendan asked Leo as they led the way to the elders.

"You're a big part of the girls' lives and why they were able to defeat the ultimate evil. I'd say that makes you pretty interesting to them," the other man answered.

There were little landmarks that stood out, and the only things the visitors saw were the mists and veils that prevented most mortals from getting a peek into the heavens and afterlife. They had all come to a stop and the sisters tried to localize where the voices were coming from.

"Welcome," a masculine voice beckoned the sisters. "It is a pleasure to meet you," the voice said. "Pardon us," he continued and the veil began to lift from their eyes, and Brendan and the sisters were able to see the beginning shapes of the higher beings and their surroundings. It was serene and utterly peaceful.

With an elegant wave of his arm the elder gestured to elegant, throne like seats for the guests. "Please, take a seat," Zola said. "You must be wondering why you were brought here," he said. "Yours is a destiny much greater than most and it seems that your family has a unique hold over how it unfolds. Pasts and futures have shifted and somehow you're destiny has changed and evolved because of it, effecting others who will be influenced by you. Your powers are still developing though you already experience powers unique to yourselves. We have never seen Piper's power before and doubt we will again…outside of your descendants, that is.

"The council asked Leo to escort you here because while you have managed successfully to speed up the completion of your shared destiny, some things have lagged behind, such as the rewards of all of your hard work and sacrifice. We would like to begin with Brendan," Zola said.

"I don't understand what you mean," the man said. "What rewards?"

"You've managed to overcome the most dangerous form evil can hold over a person…its hold since birth. As you were directly involved in the sisters' vanquish of your brothers we would like nothing more than to offer to strip you of the evil you have fought against for so long."

"You mean you would make him mortal," Prue inferred.

"Not exactly," Zola said. "The ultimate evil may have been fought but that does not mean your fighting has ended. There are smaller, easier threats you and your sisters will each fight together. Anyone placed in your care should have their own means of protecting themselves. Brendan would be granted abilities much like a whitelighter, only he will still be alive and would continue to age. This is the only time such an offering has ever been made. Would you be willing to accept the duties that come with being a whitelighter?"

"Yes," Brendan answered. "Once I was settled on the life of a priest to help others but I can no longer commit to that role. Still, I want to help, and I want to shed my warlock side."

"So shall it be. The next reward is for Phoebe," Zola moved on and saw the intrigued look on the young woman's face. "You have experienced the loss of a loved one, yet managed to move past it for the good of your sisters and your destiny. While we cannot bring Cole back, we would like to give you the peace of knowing that he will have the chance to be good in the next life as you had hoped. Still, that is not the reward we are most happy to bestow on you. You've had a hard time allowing love in your life and as a reward we have assigned you to a cupid who will work with you to find the love you were meant for."

"Thank you," she said, "but I don't know that I'm ready."

"That is why you need this," Prue interrupted. "They aren't saying you'll find love right now; you're right, it is too soon. Take it from me, though, if you're not prepared to accept love then you won't recognize it when you do. Let them do this for you, Pheebs. You deserve this," she said and Piper and Paige mumbled their agreement.

Zola nodded, and turned his attention to Paige. "Young one, for you we have a special gift; a new power," he said and saw her beam with happiness. In your past life you wielded power over the elements. Souls evolve and regress and the power was taken from you as a consequence of a past life. You have more than earned it back."

"Wicked," the twenty year old said.

"Piper, you and Leo will not receive any interference from us. Yours is a love that has struggled to survive over the course of many lifetimes. The fact that you keep finding each other is a sign that you should be together. You have our blessings.

"Lastly, Prudence, we wish to reward you. The struggle to be a charmed one was particularly hard for you for reasons you are not aware of."

"Then enlighten me," she said.

"Prudence, you and each of your sisters share very old souls as are the bonds that bind you four together. Each of you has lived out important lives before culminating into the charmed ones. While souls tend to travel in the same groups, remaining in the same families and social circles, your soul has always played the most significant parts in the Warren line."

"Such as," Paige asked.

"One of your past lives was as Melinda Warren."

"_The _Melinda Warren that started all of this," Phoebe asked amazed. "Why is it always Prue," she said in mock jealousy.

"Please, I was burned at the stake if you recall the stories. Not so fortunate," Prue reminded her younger sister.

"It was important for you, Prudence, to have the lives that you did. As you shed each life you gain and lose different parts of your soul as you either evolve or regress. Some our found again, some are not. You've lost important pieces that could not be put back together until you fulfilled your own personal destiny. Prudence, this is the first time you've lived your life through a significant, defining battle. Melinda, the first to lose her life because of her magic, was the beginning of a curse on your soul; one which you have finally broken and now you are to be rewarded for your perseverance."

Odin took a step forward from the choir of elders, taking over where Zola left off. "Usually we reserve this for new whitelighters so that they may learn from their past lives. You have all earned the right to view your past lives in order to learn from them. Besides this, Prudence, you are also being granted new powers."

"Powers," Phoebe asked. "As in plural? You have all the luck," she whined crossing her arms and sending a smile her sister's way.

"Your new powers are pieces of your soul that were lost over your many lives. You're finally ready to find those pieces again and to live out the life you have never been able to before."

"Does that mean what I think it means," Paige asked and got a nod from Piper.

"Prue has all of Melinda's original powers now, doesn't she," Piper asked Odin.

"Yes, she does. Now, we will call on you separately to view your past lives over the course of the next several weeks. Don't worry, we will gather you at times convenient to you, but there are certain rewards you need to learn of on your own. Leo will escort you all back to the manor," he said and the girls and Brendan orbed home to get some much needed sleep.


	16. Family Matters

Phoebe sat in the conservatory, wearing a pink spaghetti strap camisole and black yoga pants. The lights were off but the fire was burning, casting its glow about the room. At twenty-two years old she was absolutely beautiful and absolutely scared.

The rewards she and her sisters had or would receive in the coming days scared her, mostly because she was afraid of what it is she would see. Sure, she had gone through a rebellious stage when she was younger, but her sisters had always been her best friends and confidents; Phoebe had always looked toward them as models for how she should act but had rarely followed through. She was afraid that seeing what had happened in all of her past lives would only confirm that no matter when or where; no matter what life she had lived, that she had always been a failure.

Picking up her wine glass, she took a slow sip of the sweet substance and let herself wallow in her insecurities for another second, unaware that she was being watched. Unaware of the thoughts running through the cupid's mind, she sat there and contemplated until she heard his steps and turned to look at him.

"I'm not a demon," he said when she reached for an athame under the couch cushion.

"Then who are you?"

"My name is Coop; the elders sent me down to you. I'm a cupid," the tall man explained.

"And you had nothing better to do than just stare at me," she questioned him harshly.

His eyes squinted and he was pleased when he saw her eyeing him in confusion. "Is this something you do a lot? You insult people or come off strongly in order to shift the attention off of you," he asked, "because that defense mechanism isn't doing what you want it to do. You're not protecting yourself; you're pushing others who want to care about you away."

"Wow, you're here for two seconds and you've got me entirely figured out," Phoebe said sarcastically. "Gold star for you, Coop the cupid. Well, now that you've figured me out I guess you can go now," she said standing up only to be yanked down by his firm grip.

"I'm not like the others who you pushed away, Phoebe. I'm not going anywhere until you've opened your eyes and your heart to the world around you. You're young now, Phoebe, but if you won't allow yourself to heal then you're going to be alone when everyone else around you moves on with their lives. Do you want to be alone?"

Phoebe shook her head and looked into his eyes, as she remembered looking into Cole's. Cole's had been ice blue waves of intensity every time she looked in them, warm with passion as he fought off his inner nature for her love. It had been exciting and overwhelming and life affirming. Coop's eyes were the darkest chocolate but were completely different to look into. There was no war inside this person; there was serenity and sincerity and love, so Phoebe did something she wasn't accustomed to. She let herself trust love.

* * *

Paige was outside in the back yard practicing her new powers. So far she could make it rain and create electricity. Fire was coming along and Piper's garden looked the best it ever had, but Paige could not seem to get the hold of wind.

"Why don't we take a break," Leo decided. "You've been putting a lot of time in and now that you've defeated the Rowe coven you're gonna have a lot more time to practice without anymore threats coming after you."

"Alright," the twenty year old said. "I have to get ready for dinner with Henry, anyway," she finished and was met with teasing 'ooh la la's from Piper and Prue who had been watching from lounge chairs.

Paige stuck out her tongue as she passed them to enter the laundry room and Prue gave her a smack on her butt, receiving a pained look from her baby sister that sent her and Piper into fits.

"Alright, well I'll leave you two alone," Prue said rising from her seat. "I have errands to run anyway. Do you guys need anything?"

"No, but Phoebe made a list of herbs that she and Coop are going to need for their work if you wanna pick that up," Piper suggested.

* * *

It had been three weeks since the scene in the conservatory and the third charmed one was starting to show signs of a changed disposition. Prue was glad that the cupid was getting through to the witch; Phoebe never saw her potential as much as the sisters had and Prue wondered where it stemmed from. Phoebe was one of the most intelligent people she knew. Maybe she wasn't a neurosurgeon but that didn't mean anything as few people were.

"Alright, well, I'm gonna just get that list then and be on my way. See you guys later," she said and made her way into the house.

Phoebe and Coop sat on the floor inside her room, meditating and just focusing on taking one breath at a time. She was pleasantly surprised that Coop wasn't setting her up with guys as she had initially expected. He had explained that before she could put herself out there that she needed to work on herself and that's what they had been doing.

The past three weeks had been like an intense round of therapy and Phoebe was gaining some of her naturally abundant self-esteem back. In fact, Coop had helped Phoebe decide what the next course in her life should be and she had registered to be a full time student the next semester declaring a major in psychology; not every woman was lucky enough to have their own personal cupid around to straighten them out and Phoebe wanted to take what she was learning and help others apply it to themselves.

"Good, Phoebe. Just keep on breathing and focus on your energy; your mind is clear of everything. Now feel your blood as it courses through you. Imagine its path from your heart through the veins and arteries as it makes its way to your lungs. That feeling of it flowing through you is a reminder that you are strong and healthy and whole. How do you feel?"

"I feel light," she answered. "Unrestrained and kind of tranquil, like I've never been this peaceful."

"Go ahead and open your eyes," Coop said. "It's taken us some time but you have just successfully taken down the block around your heart."

"It's only taken close to a month," she joked.

"Don't do that, Phoebe."

"Do what?"

"Make jokes at your own expense. I know you do it to gloss over how you feel about yourself; it's a defense mechanism but the thing about defense mechanisms is that they usually take a psychological toll on your self-esteem. You are a beautiful, intelligent young woman and three weeks is not a long time to take down the block. For some people it takes years."

"I'm sorry," she said.

"I know. Now, I'll see you tomorrow for our work. I've got something special planned and I'm going to need the whole day."

"That's fine, I have the day off."

"Good," he smiled. "Tomorrow then," he said and dematerialized in a dusty red haze of light.

* * *

The next day Paige sat across the table from Henry. They had been seeing each other for a month now and were eating at least one meal a day together. She had learned that his parents had adopted him when he was four years old and that his father had always thought Henry would become a fire fighter. Henry told her stories about growing up with the Matthews, a special couple who had loved him more than anything in the world and kept him out of trouble. The more she heard the more she liked him.

"You're a lot like my mom," Henry told Paige.

"Great," she joked in a drawn out voice. "Just what every girl wants to hear," Paige laughed.

Henry grabbed her hand and held it in his. "You know that's not what I meant. I was a momma's boy and I love her more than anyone; or I did," he said kissing the back of her hand.

"Well, I was a daddy's girl. My life revolved around him; or it used to," she mimicked him and he leaned over the table to kiss her. "Huh, I, um," she mumbled when he pulled away from her, her eyes still closed.

"I love you, too," Henry said finishing her sentence.

* * *

Prue placed her camera equipment on the dining room table when her mom and Piper came out from the kitchen. "Hey, what are you doing over here," she asked her mom while hugging her.

"Piper invited Sam and I over for dinner."

"Kind of a late dinner," Prue said.

"I know, but I wanted to be here when Paige got home from her date with Henry. She's been spending a lot of time with him but I haven't heard anything about him at all."

"Well, I know they met on her campus," Piper said. "He was a guest lecturer, right?"

"Yeah; he's a parole officer who came in to talk about kids from disadvantaged backgrounds," Prue added.

"I just wish Phoebe were home, too. It's been too long since our last family dinner," Patty said. "I'm glad that things have started going right for her."

"Coop's been a blessing," Piper said as she moved to put all the place settings on the table. "I think he's really getting through to her. I don't think I realized how much work a cupid could do on an individual. You know, I always think of the matchmaking aspect."

"Where is Pheebs," Prue asked.

"Oh, Coop took her to visit her past lives," Piper told her sister and mother. "He came by this morning. Apparently he can use his ring to go back to past loves, and since we tend to travel in groups across lives, he thought it would be good for Phoebe to see what bad habits she's formed and taken with her."

"Heavy," Prue said. "I hope there aren't any more demons in her past. Cole and Anton were enough."

Just then, Phoebe and Coop appeared in a red haze. "Hey, mom," she called and went to hug her mother. "This is coop," she said introducing the cupid. "Coop, this is my mom."

"It's an honor to meet you," Coop said.

"Thank you. Will you be staying for dinner, Coop," Patty asked and Piper rolled her eyes before walking over to the china cabinet to get another plate. "Here, you can sit between me and Phoebe," Patty said leading him to his chair.

"Wanna help me get the food," Piper asked Prue and the two left the others to talk. "Hey, Dad," Piper said to Sam. "Food's ready; we're all gonna sit down to eat," she told him and grabbed a food tray.

Sitting down at dinner, the group joked and told embarrassing family stories. Phoebe glanced at Prue and nodded at the full wine glass. "Since when do you not finish your wine?"

"Finish," Piper scoffed from next to her big sister. "She hasn't even taken a sip."

"Are you not feeling well," Patty said concerned.

"I could heal you if you want," Sam offered. "I doubt the elder's would really care."

"That's okay dad; I actually feel pretty good, considering."

"Considering what," Patty asked.

Prue took a deep breath before answering. "That…I'm pregnant," she told the shocked group.

Sam opened his mouth to say something when Paige came running through the double doors. "I'm getting married," she yelled.


	17. Mayhem

"Why aren't you guys saying anything," Paige asked her family.

"You aren't the only one who just dropped a bombshell," Phoebe told her little sister. "Prue just told us that she's pregnant," she said getting Paige up to speed on the situation.

Paige threw her keys and purse on the foyer table and sauntered over to the dining room table, placed a hand on her hip and said, "Oh, my god. Whose is it?"

The next thing everyone knew, Paige was yelping, "Ouch! Did you just pinch me," she cried at Prue who was seated two places away from her.

"Whose is it," Prue repeated her sister's words. "Whose is it? It's Brendan's!"

"Sorry, it's just that I didn't know that you guys were doing _that_," Paige said wrinkling her nose. "You were the one that told me it wasn't classy on the first date."

"Yeah, well, technically they got married," Piper joked and got a laugh out of Phoebe.

"Girls," Patty admonished them. "This is not the time for joking. I, for one, would like to congratulate my eldest daughter, Prudence, for making me a grandmother," she said and then turned to Paige. "And as for you, you will get married over my dead body," she said before taking a big gulp of her wine.

"But mom—"

"Paige Marie Halliwell," Sam yelled, "sit down. We can discuss this later," he said and the table was silent while everyone went back to their meals.

* * *

Phoebe and Paige were walking down a busy street, with Phoebe's arm wrapped around one of Paige's. "Oh, we have to go in here," the twenty two year old demanded and they entered a lingerie shop. Phoebe picked up a scarlet teddy and handed it to Paige. "Henry will love this on your wedding night," she teased.

"Um, maybe our anniversary," Paige said and then picked up a pink champagne colored gown. "I was thinking something like this for the wedding night."

"Much more virginal," Phoebe said. "Not that you're a virgin," she teased and stared back at a silent Paige. "Are you?"

"Kind of," Paige said with a pinched expression that bared most of her teeth. "Actually… totally."

"Oh, my god," Phoebe laughed. "A Halliwell that waits for marriage," she said choking on her laughter.

"What can I say," Paige asked. "I like being the first at everything. I'm the first witch-whitelighter hybrid and apparently the first Halliwell who isn't a slut."

"Calm down there, virgin. I didn't mean to offend you."

"Besides, how am I gonna convince mom and dad that this is really happening? They won't even talk about the subject."

"It might help if they got to actually meet him," Phoebe advised her. "Why don't you bring him over?"

"Why? So he can divorce me before we even get married?"

* * *

"So," Piper said, "have you told Brendan yet?"

"About," Prue said blandly as she put another item in their shopping cart.

"The baby," Piper said. "You know, the one that's due in six and a half months? My goddaughter," Piper reminded her.

"Who says you're the godmother," Prue asked playfully.

"Oh, so you would give Phoebe or Paige your child if anything happened to you," the younger one asked sarcastically.

"Hmm, I guess by process of elimination you really are the only reasonable choice," Prue said, "then again, Paige is getting married," she pretended to ponder that thought.

"Hah, like mom and Sam will ever let that happen."

"Hey, why are you calling him Sam all of a sudden. We all call him dad," Prue reminded Piper.

"I know," the other woman said solemnly, "but I haven't been able to stop thinking about, you know, our other dad," Piper said trying to not belittle the bond she shared with her step-father. "I just wish we could have both of them in our lives."

"I get that," Prue told her, "but we don't and that's not our fault or mom and dad's. Victor left and decided not to have anything to do with us. There's nothing we could have done about that."

"There's nothing we _could_ have done about it, but what about now?"

"Now, Piper? He's had twenty years; we don't owe him anything."

"It's not about owing him anything, Prue. We just want to know who it is we come from."

"We? You involved Phoebe in this, too?"

"It's not like I dragged her into it, Prue. The only one who seems to not be interested in it is you. Phoebe and I want to know him. It's not like you can stop us."

"No, but I don't have to be involved either," she said and walked down a different aisle.

"Prue," Piper called out and followed her sister.

* * *

Patty stood in the attic with candles lit in a circle used for rituals. "…come to me, I summon thee. Cross now the great divide," she finished chanting and was greeted by a familiar face.

* * *

Phoebe and Paige walked in and placed their bags near the bench seat in the foyer, hanging up their coats and jackets. "Mom, dad," Paige yelled and Sam came out from the sunroom.

"Girls, I thought you would have been gone longer. Did you get a lot of stuff," he asked and kissed each of his daughters on their cheeks.

"Not much—" Paige was cut off by the door slamming and Piper calling after Prue.

"What the hell is going on," Sam asked the older two.

"Why don't you ask Piper," Prue told him. "Better yet, ask Phoebe."

"Uh, what? All of a sudden I'm involved? I don't even know what's going on," she stammered.

Footsteps echoed as someone made their way onto the landing and everyone turned to stare. "Grams," Paige said.

"In the flesh," the older room confirmed and Patty caught up with her mother.

* * *

All four girls stood before their grandmother yelling to get their points across, while Sam and Patty stood separated from each other by the group. It was to the point where they were only getting an odd word here and there when Grams put her fingers in her mouth and whistled loud and long. "Girls. Table. Now," Grams spoke loudly and all four sat down silently waiting for their Grams to say anything. "Now, what in the world is going on? Prudence?"

* * *

"Now, Paige, what is it you want to say," Grams said finally making her way to the youngest child.

"I'm getting married—"

"Paige Marie, we have already discussed this," Sam said sternly and Grams held up a hand to hush him.

"Mom and Dad are having a little trouble accepting this."

"Who is this young man? Does he know about our family?"

"His name is Henry, and yes, I told him about magic. He's a parole officer and a really good man, Grams."

"Why can't you wait a little longer? A long engagement might give your parents time to get to know him, and you'll still get what you want," Grams said.

"They don't want me to wait," Paige said. "They just don't want their youngest to be the first to get married."

"Now hold on a second, young lady," Patty began to argue with Paige when Grams cleared her throat and gave her daughter the signature Penny Halliwell glare.

"I don't want to wait. They don't know him but I do. They can either try to be supportive or I can go my separate way. The elders have already told us that our combined destiny has been reached," Paige said and Patty and Sam shared the same look they always shared when one of their daughters was 'out stubborning' them. They knew Paige was laying down the law.

* * *

Patty, Penny and Sam were in the kitchen cleaning after dinner while the girls each went their separate ways. They were still pretty raw from the commotion earlier and weren't on the best of terms as a united whole.

"I still don't know what's gotten into you, mother. Paige is only twenty years old and you sat there telling her it was okay to be married?"

"Well, I have to say Piper and Phoebe seem to be the bigger issue, dear. I mean, really; they want to track Victor down? He'll just end up disappointing them all over again."

"Victor should never have been gone from their lives, mother. As much as they love Sam, Victor is their biological father. It's natural to want to know him."

"And he should want to know them but he's been absent for twenty years without a single care as to how they're doing, so why should they care?"

"It's not like we were completely innocent in that situation," Sam told his mother-in law. "Patty and I should have waited to get involved until after the divorce was final."

"Pssh. The ink may not have been dried but for all other purposes the relationship between Patty and Victor was over by then. Neither of you are to blame."

"That's probably not how Victor feels," Patty said sadly. "That's not the pressing point, though. I really don't want Paige rushing into a marriage. She's too young."

"Please," Penny said waving her daughter off. "I was married when I was her age. Besides, Paige reminds me a great deal of how I was at that age and she's a good judge of character. If she says this Henry is a good man than I believe her."

"That doesn't mean she should marry him," Patty rebutted.

"Funny, I seem to recall telling you the same thing about Victor."

"And look how that turned out," Patty replied.

"He wasn't exactly a mistake, Patty. He is the father of three of the charmed ones," her husband reminded her.

"Paige is going to do whatever she wants. Do you want to alienate her or do you want to be there when she gets married; has her first child, etc. etc.?"

Patty and Sam exchanged glances.

* * *

"I guess I can understand Piper and Phoebe wanting to know Victor," Paige said quietly to Prue, the two lying down on Prue's bed. "I just never really thought about it because it was like my dad was always your dad, too. Don't be mad at them."

"I'm not really mad," Prue said. "I'm nervous."

"About Victor?"

"About Brendan," Prue told her. "He's been up there with the elders training to be a whitelighter and I haven't seen him in almost a month."

"Are you worried that they're gonna keep him away? He's still mortal, though, and they said he was getting powers so he can be with you," Paige reminded her.

"I know, but think about what this means. I got pregnant before they stripped his warlock powers. This baby could grow up to be evil."

"Like you would allow that. Besides, Brendan was a warlock and he managed to fight it and be good."

"Yeah, but I already know that this baby has undesirable genes from Brendan and now Phoebe and Piper want to search out Victor and it's just a reminder that somewhere out there in the world is a man who abandoned his daughters. I don't think I want to get to know about the kinds of things that Victor has unknowingly passed on to my child."

"Is that what you're afraid about," Phoebe said from the doorway. She walked in slowly and sat on the edge of the bed. "Prue, you can't be afraid of those kinds of things or it will just keep you from living your life."

"How'd you get to be so wise, anyway," Prue half joked; half cried, giving her sister a nudge.

"Well, I've had Coop to help me. He's one of the reason's I want to get to know our dad. I've held myself an arm's length from love because it was always there in the back of my mind that I wasn't good enough to keep dad from leaving. I know that we didn't do anything to deserve that _now_, but I want him to know what he missed out on. Don't you?"


	18. Happily ever after

A/N: I'm going to put up links on my profile that show the dresses for the wedding. Also, I'm sorry it's taken me this long to update.

* * *

Paige and Phoebe were out and about, shopping in Bodega Bay during one of their mutual breaks from college. Paige had found a phenomenal dress by Sue Wong, a long seutache embroidered gown with beaded accents and a floating cascade panel skirt in a soft peach color. It was out of this world and had a certain 1920s flapper feeling. The bridesmaid dresses were also Sue Wong designs, though Prue, Piper and Phoebe had chosen different dresses.

Prue had chosen a strapless bandeau sheath dress that stopped well above her knees in a beautiful pale ice blue color with embroidered flowers on the skirt, while Piper had chosen a similar strapless sheath dress with a draped bodice and ornate beading at the waist and along the skirt in a similar color. Phoebe had decided to stay in the same color scheme and had chosen to wear a sheath dress with an empire waist that had the same seutache embroidered flowers as Paige's gown.

Paige had decided on the 1920s theme due to her recent past life screenings. She had discovered that she and her sisters had spent their last lives as cousins, with Piper and Prue as one set of siblings and Paige and Phoebe as another. Paige had also learned that Henry had been the investigating detective in past Phoebe's death, and that he had helped the cousins cover up their crime. Since then the manor was being prepared to turn back into the speak easy it had once been and Quake had been contracted to cater and bar tend for the night.

Sam and Patty had since met Paige's fiance as well as his parents who were absolutely thrilled by their son's choice in a wife. While they still wished the couple would wait they had joined in helping prepare for the upcoming nuptials. Only close friends who were aware of the sisters' secret were invited, such as Andy and Susan, Daryl and Sheila, and some of their friends like Wendy, Piper's best friend and Glen, one of Paige's old boyfriends.

Walking into Gourmet Au Bay, Paige and Phoebe moved around looking for the bottles of wine on the list Piper had drafted up to stock the bar for the wedding. Prue would be taking care of the portraits, Piper the catering and decorations, and Phoebe had found the entertainment; a college friend that sung in concert choir would be performing popular songs from the roaring twenties accompanied by the jazz band. This was one of the last tasks before the ceremony tomorrow. The manor had been guarded by spells and enchantments to ward off evil and protect their guests. Small tables often found at clubs had been set up to create a cabaret feelings and all of the linens and center pieces were out for tonight's rehearsal dinner.

After that the men would leave for Henry's bachelor party and the girls and their guests would have an adult slumber party playing bridal games, sipping champagne and watching old black and white movies to inspire them for the next days performance. Father Austin would officiate as he already knew the families secret and wouldn't be surprised about the appearance of certain guests like Penny Halliwell, and then Henry and Paige would orb to Italy for their week long honeymoon.

"Can you believe it," Phoebe asked her. "You are going to be the first one of us to get married!"

"It's not like Piper and Leo, and Prue and Brendan won't be following soon," Paige said. "We're having a wedding for just about every season. Me and Henry in the summer, Prue and Brendan in the fall, and Piper and Leo this winter. All we need is for Coop to find you someone and we might have our spring wedding," Paige said.

"I know, but Coop and I have discussed it and I really want to move slowly about this. I fell for Cole so fast and I just want to be prepared and make sure that when I do meet someone I'm with them for them and not to be alone."

"Good for you, Pheebs. Still, you and Coop have been working together for months. It's been almost a year since I vanquished Cole, and I'm not saying you have to move on because it will happen in its own time, but you will find love. I mean, it was alternate universe Phoebe who told us that you weren't meant to be alone forever."

"I know, but I feel like I'm finally on track for once and I like that. I'm still young and I have years before I have to worry about getting married and starting a family. I think for now I want to settle into figuring out what I want to do with myself before I focus on becoming a couple. I'm kind of glad Coop hasn't started making any matches yet."

"I bet you are," Paige said with a sly grin. "Is he still coming as your date?"

"You know it's not like that, Missy Paige!"

"Um hmm."

* * *

Prue was helping piper set up the parlor, conservatory, sun room, and formal dining room for the ceremony and reception the next day. The furniture had been switched out for their Great Aunt Pearl's satin settee and small, round tables for two. A small stage had been erected near the piano with an old fashioned microphone for the singer and jazz band, as well as old fashioned oil lamps for mood lighting all throughout the lower level of the house. The old bar and been put together after Leo, Henry, Daryl and Andy had dug it out of the attic; dismantled after the speak easy had gone out of business after prohibition had ended.

She was still nervous because her fiance hadn't shown up yet and Prue barely got to see Brendan because of his training. He had reacted great to the news of the baby and the Elders had assured them that whatever powers their child had inherited from Brendan's warlock nature would not corrupt their child, whom the Elders said had a very special role to play and an important destiny; as if that were something new in her family. Butterflies continued to make her stomach uneasy as she moved from table to table making sure everything was prepared, as well as the antique camera equipment from her previous life that she would be using. Everything was ready. So why couldn't she fight the unease she was feeling?

* * *

Piper plated the food and removed her apron, allowing the waiters to take the dishes from her into dining room. The manor looked enchanting and Piper took a moment to appreciate it all before taking her place next to Leo. In six months time this would be their rehearsal dinner and her sisters would be there supporting them.

Piper may have thought that she and Leo were moving fast but she had known from the moment she laid eyes on him that he was the one she had been waiting for. Glimpses into her past lives had reassured her, as she learned that they were constantly involved in a romantic triangle with themselves and Piper's ex boyfriend Dan. Seeing herself as Constance, a young Scottish highlander and the daughter of a highland king -one of her first lives- in the early fifteenth century, then as Astrid; an English woman in the 1600s, Patrice in the 1920s as well as all of her lives in between as the Warren line moved closer to America and settled into their family estate in California had only proved to Piper that she and Leo were meant to be as battles and mini-dramas were fought in the pursuit of their love.

Leo took her hand in his and looked down into her eyes before kissing her softly. Piper knew this was the beginning of their lives and their happiness. The ultimate battle had been fought, and while she knew attacks would still take place, Piper and her sisters were finally getting their story book endings. Tomorrows wedding would be the first day of the rest of their lives.

* * *

The guests were seated and the jazz band started playing while Sam ushered Paige down the staircase, through the foyer and into the conservatory. Paige's dark brown hair was down and hung loose on her shoulders in a wave, parted to the side and one side was pulled back into an ornate, crystal studded clip. Her lips were painted stop light red and her eyes popped under her smoky eye shadow. Her bouquet was made up of pink peonies and she glided as she made her way to Henry.

Everyone looked on as the two exchanged vows and suddenly the manor became alive with gossip and energy as it became a party. People danced and lined up to be a part of the portraits Prue was taking that would make their way into the wedding album, and Paige and Henry were glowing and gushing over each other. Phoebe was giving free readings and Piper moved around making sure that their guests were taken care of.

Brendan appeared behind Prue. Dapper in his black tuxedo and his hair slicked back in a good old boy kind of style. "May I have this dance," he asked.

Prue turned and kissed her fiance. "I'd love to," she answered and he led her to the makeshift dance floor near the stage. She put her head on his shoulder and they danced in silence until she finally looked him in the eyes and asked, "are we going to be okay?"


End file.
